Tim Thomas leads the way as the Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers
Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas was once again the star of the show as the Bruins beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Wednesday 17 November.
How it happened
It was the Rangers who started the scoring in the second, after a scoreless first, when the Rangers' leading goalscorer Brandon Dubinsky got his 11th goal of the season after Bruins forward Nathan Horton
had taken a four-minute double minor for high-sticking.
The Bruins took control by the end of the period after Milan Lucic tied things up with his seventh of the season, and rookie Tyler Seguin scored his fourth of the year after stealing the puck at his own
blue line and using his pace to get past the Rangers' defencemen before firing the puck top shelf.
The Bruins increased their lead when Mark Recchi scored a weak goal on a shot from just inside the blue line which somehow got past Henrik Lundqvist in the Rangers goal.
The Rangers did pull one back when Marian Gaborik got his fourth of the season, but Thomas was sharp on the night, stopping 34 of 36 shots, and was able to shut down the Rangers the rest of the way.
What they're saying
Although it seemed like a rather weak goal, Mark Recchi's second of the year was a prime example of what can happen when you follow every coach's advice of just putting pucks on net.
"If you're going to score some goals, you've got to get some pucks to the net," Bruins coach Claude Julien said to reporters after the game. "Doesn't matter how old you get. As long as you listen, it works."
Lundqvist would only go on to describe Recchi's goal as "terrible".
The Rangers outshot the Bruins 16-5 in the final period, but that kind of pressure only fuelled Thomas who has played remarkably since the start of the season. "Sometimes that makes a goalie's job easier
because you don't have time to think," Thomas said. "Any situation you have to turn into a positive like that."
The Bruins have been virtually unbeatable with Thomas between the pipes as the 2009 Vezina Trophy winner collected his 10th win of the season. Thomas has lost only once this season. The Bruins play on
back-to-back nights as they get set to host the Florida Panthers on Thursday 18 November.
The Bruins put an end to the Rangers three-game win streak as they remain in the Easter Conference's top eight. They travel to Colorado to take on the Avalanche on Friday night.
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