Thomas's saves put any sweep dreams to rest
Yesterday afternoon, when an already weary Tim Thomas got on the bus for the drive from the Bruins' downtown hotel to TD Banknorth Garden, he spotted a cab with an ad on top.
"There was a quote on the top of the cab," Thomas recalled. "Something like, 'When I think I'm tired, that's when I tell myself to go.' "
"Sorry, I messed up the quote," Thomas added. "That shows you I'm tired."
Thomas, however, couldn't allow fatigue to affect his game last night despite playing in his second overtime match. The extra session, after all, was when the Canadiens turned up the heat.
Approximately 2:30 into overtime, fourth-line center Bryan Smolinski entered the corner to Thomas's left and fired a pass out front for linemate Tom Kostopoulos, who had scored Montreal's only goal in the second period. Thomas, moving from left to right while tracking the puck, had to stop suddenly because Kostopoulos's shot went against the grain.
"They do things so quick, which I learned in the first game, that I'm really trying to be in position," Thomas said. "That's what saved me on that one because it was a bang-bang play. He actually [shot] the other way."
By stopping his slide short, Thomas was in position to boot out Kostopoulos's bid with his left pad, preventing Montreal from winning the game. Just two minutes later, Thomas stopped a slot shot by forward Mathieu Dandenault with his right arm. Later in overtime, Thomas gloved a shot off the stick of forward Steve Begin that popped into the air. Six of Thomas's 27 stops came in overtime of the Bruins' 2-1 win.
"In my mind, he stole the show in overtime with some of those saves he made," said coach Claude Julien. "Hopefully we can count on him to continue playing that way, because we're sure going to need it."
Thomas helped send the game into OT with a sparkling stop late in regulation. Forward Guillaume Latendresse had some space in front of the net and batted a backhander on goal. But Thomas recovered and lunged to stop Latendresse's shot with his blocker.
"You have to be ready for everything," said Thomas. "A lot of overtime goals are fluky goals a lot of times. I was trying to guard myself against not being ready for some of the stuff that did happen. A puck bounced off [Dennis Wideman's] stick. A puck bounced into the air. I tried to be ready for that."
Time to shine
He's only 19 years old and a season out of junior hockey, but Milan Lucic continued to show no sign of big-game jitters.
Lucic scored the game's first goal, setting himself up in the slot for a Marc Savard feed and elevating a shot over goalie Carey Price. Early in the second period, Lucic set up Glen Murray for a scoring chance that went wide. Later in the second, during one shift, Lucic had several scoring chances in front of the net.
Most impressive: Lucic's six bone-rattling hits, including a pair of steamers on defenseman Mike Komisarek.
"He's huge," Savard said of Lucic (four shots in 19:19 of ice time). "He's making their D have some tough nights. I think if you ask their D, they'll give you the same answer. He's getting in there and gives me time to get the puck. Tonight he made a great play going to the net and I was able to hit him. In the second, he had two great chances in front, too. If he keeps playing the way he is, we're going to get some room and get some more chances."
No Bergeron
Patrice Bergeron did not play last night for the third straight game of the series. Bergeron has been practicing daily and has not suffered any post-concussion symptoms, but he does not consider himself ready for game action . . . With Wideman back in the lineup, Andrew Alberts was the healthy scratch. Phil Kessel was scratched for the second straight game . . . Vladimir Sobotka threw six hits. Komisarek led all players with eight . . . Montreal is 1 for 17 on the power play over the first three games.
Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at FShinzawa@globe.com.
