At the end, there was no stopper

The Bruins didn't lose last night because of Tim Thomas, but it was clear from coach Dave Lewis's postgame comments that he felt the Bruins didn't win because of the stop Thomas didn't make.

"The way we lost . . .," mused Lewis, his Bruins 2-5-0-1 after last night's 3-2 loss to the Canadiens at the Garden, "I still think saves can be made."

Thomas, with the Habs attacking on the power play, moved to his right to cover the post as the sharpshooting Andrei Markov collected a Sheldon Souray pass low in the near circle. The clock about to zero out, Markov delayed his release slightly and, by Thomas's eye, eventually squeezed off a muffed shot to the short side. Muffed or not, the waist-high delivery eluded Thomas and dropped in for the win with 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation .

"It came off the toe of the stick," said a disconsolate Thomas. "Odd. It wasn't a good shot, and it got me between the hip and the arm."

One goal does not a season break, but with eight games gone and only 5 points banked in the standings, the Bruins have yet to receive top-notch, game-winning backstopping from Thomas or partner Hannu Toivonen. Goal was the No. 1 question mark headed into the 2006-07 season, and thus far the question mark has only grown larger, bolder, and of greater concern.

No doubt new general manager Peter Chiarelli will be asking about available goalies when he talks to fellow GMs today and through the weekend. His former club, Ottawa, is in town tomorrow night, and no one knows the debilitating impact of spotty goaltending better than the Senators. One of the game's more potent offensive teams in recent years, the Senators have been perennially undone by substandard netminding.

"There are certain times in a game," said Lewis, ". . . when the goalie says, 'OK, you are not going to beat me.' And he's going to be the most aggressive guy."

Clearly, Lewis wanted to witness that mind-set and mettle from Thomas in the final seconds. But . . .

"I'm not sure we are there yet," said the coach.

So, where are they? Chances are, they are back to Toivonen tomorrow night when the suddenly revved-up Senators arrive on Causeway Street . Toivonen didn't see the end of his last start, last Saturday's loss to the Sabres, which turned the stick and blocker back over to Thomas. The weight of the loss to Montreal no doubt will see the seesaw hoist Toivonen high again, with Lewis hoping someone can stop the puck, seize the moment.

"I thought I had it," said Thomas, who added that he felt the club's overall effort was enough to win. "The guys deserved a save at the end of the game."

One of those nightmare endings that no goalie wants, but every goalie knows that no one is immune.

"I've seen 'em on TV once in a while, and I've thought, 'Hmm, I've hardly ever seen that happen to us,' " he said. "Well, it did today."