National Hockey League update: Shawn Thornton leads Boston Bruins past Atlanta Thrashers 4-1
Boston Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton scored a pair of goals on Thursday night at TD Garden, taking his tally for the season to a career-high seven goals, as the Bruins defeated the Atlanta Thrashers 4-1. The other highlight was
perhaps the huge clash that erupted towards the end of a game that saw a total of 120 penalty minutes.
With a little over four minutes of play left, the Thrashers' Freddy Meyer appeared to hit the Bruin’s Milan Lucic in the chest and then rode up into his face – igniting a brawl. Andrew Ference shed his gloves and grabbed Meyer from
behind, delivering strong blows that sparked war all over the ice rink. Ference was eventually led from the ice with blood dripping from his right eye.
Bruins coach Claude Julien called Meyer’s hit on Lucic a "shameful shot" and said he expected the league would analyze it as it deliberated over further discipline to be meted out to the 10 players involved in the brawl.
The immediate consequence of the fight was six fighting majors and five game misconducts. Lucic received match misconduct and a game penalty. The Thrashers’ Anthony Stewart and Bryan Little and the Bruins’ Marc Savard and Ference
were also involve in other game misconducts.
The melee distracted fans from chanting for tough guy Thornton, who has seven goals for the first time in an NHL season.
"The fans have been unbelievable to me since I got here. Tonight was just another level," Thornton said. "It's been a long journey to get here. Not too many people get to hear their name chanted by 18,000 people. It's a pretty
cool experience."
Boston had lost three of their last four games and needed this victory before leaving for a five-game road trip next week.
Patrice Bergeron had a goal and an assist for the Bruins, which outshot the Thrashers 36-27. With 17 minutes left in the first period, Bergeron picked up a shorthanded goal to snap a scoreless streak of 105 minutes and 57 seconds.
Meanwhile, the Bruins’ goaltender Tim Thomas made 26 saves and improved to 16-4-3.
Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien had the lone goal for Atlanta, beating Tim Thomas with a nifty backhander and giving him 37 points for the year, a new career high.
With 15:56 left in the third period, Michael Ryder gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead. He took the pass from Patrice Bergeron and ripped a wrist shot into the net.
Fifty-six seconds later, Thornton made it 3-0 and tied his career high with his sixth goal of the season. Adam McQuaid took the puck out of the corner and backhanded it to Thornton who stepped into a slap shot from the right circle.
Byfuglien decreased the deficit to 3-1 with his 13th goal of the season at 8:40 in the second period.
Nearly five minutes into the third period, Thornton re-established the three-goal lead for Bruins by scoring his second goal of the game.
The Thrashers’ Ondrej Pavelec made 32 saves of 36 shots.
"The game for us was not where we have been at during the last little bit here," said Thrashers captain Andrew Ladd, whose hooking penalty preceded Ryder's goal. "My penalty on that one led to a goal. That is my fault. I take responsibility
for that one. We had a power play to start the game and we ended up with a shorthanded goal, a tough bounce but a tough way to start."
The Thrashers, who temporarily held first place in the Southeast Division twice in the previous week, lost for the second consecutive game. It is Atlanta's first two-game losing streak since 17th of November.
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