On spot at the dot, Yelle out to improve

Bruins center is losing most faceoff battles

CALGARY, Alberta - Thin air? What thin air? Bruins center Stephane Yelle spent five years here with the Flames at the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, and returning to his onetime hometown barely causes him to think about the Oxygen Lite factor.

"If someone didn't bring it up, it wouldn't cross my mind," said the gritty, well-conditioned 34-year-old, who signed as a free agent over the summer. "I still go back to Denver to live in the summer - my wife's from that area - and I train in this air all summer, too. So it's never been a concern for me."

Yelle, a New Jersey draft pick (No. 186 in 1992), was traded to the then-Quebec City franchise and made his NHL debut after the Nordiques moved to Colorado. He spent seven seasons in Denver before he was traded to Calgary with Chris Drury, the ex-Boston University star, in October 2002.

"Any time I practice or play here, I can feel it," said goalie Tim Thomas, "and for some reason, I feel it more here than in Colorado - kind of weird."

Regardless of the air quality, Yelle would like to improve his work in the faceoff circle. Long one of the game's better "draw" men, Yelle saw his percentage dip significantly last season, in part because Flames coach Mike Keenan used him more as a winger. When he signed with Boston, he eagerly looked forward to work at the dot. But the uptick hasn't occurred.

"Yeah, I've had a tough time the first few games," said Yelle, who prior to last night's 3-2 loss had a lackluster 40 percent success rate (32 for 80) at the dot, but was 4 for 6 against the Flames. "But I've been working hard at it in practice."

Meanwhile, fellow centers Marc Savard (53.5 percent) and Patrice Bergeron (56.3) have been grip-and-rip masters at the dot.

"When it's going well on faceoffs, you find that you're not thinking quite as much about it," said Yelle. "In times like these, you've got to go back to the basics and just try to do what you do best."

To take some pressure off Yelle, he has been yielding to linemate Petteri Nokelainen of late. The Finn, left wing on a line with Yelle and Shawn Thornton, played center for years and likes to take faceoffs. Headed into last night, he had won 10 of 12 draws for an impressive 83.3 percent, but went 3 for 7 against Calgary.

"We kind of started that on our own, with me taking any draw on the right side of the ice, and [Yelle] taking the left," noted Nokelainen. "It's really a small thing [for Yelle]; even some of the best guys struggle at times with it. Claude [Julien] talked about it with us, too, and said it works pretty good."

Style points

Thomas, in net for 1-0 wins in Edmonton (Monday) and Vancouver (Tuesday), fielded the usual questions about his somewhat unorthodox style yesterday.

"Most of what I do, I think, is the butterfly style," said Thomas, who was back in the cage for a third straight start. "I mean, look at [Miikka ] Kiprusoff [Calgary's goalie]. He's got a little bit of a different style, too. So I think some of this is that we don't play very much in the West, and people don't see the way I play. But in my mind, I play like a normal, butterfly goalie."

Thomas's style is something of a hybrid, but not so much that the 34-year-old goaltender looks crazily out of place in today's game. Even if his style were a bit slapstick, what would be the big deal? As of yesterday morning, he owned the best save percentage (.943) in the NHL, and his goals-against average (1.77) was second only to Buffalo's Ryan Miller (1.60).

Offense a concern

General manager Peter Chiarelli sat in the Saddledome stands for his club's morning workout, and despite the general good feelings that come with back-to-back shutout wins, he was emphatic that the Bruins must improve their offense.

"Certainly I'm not euphoric over one-goal games," said Chiarelli before witnessing a one-goal loss to the Flames. "I'm not willing to say we're exactly where we want to be."

Chiarelli still figures he would like to improve his defensive corps. Adding some mobility and puck-passing skill back there would be one way to improve the offense. "I always want to improve our defense, especially the way Claude coaches," he said.

Asked to add more detail, Chiarelli said, "He's a defense-first coach . . . his style of coaching is from the back end out. And I've always believed that's the way to build teams."

Power hitter

After a game-high eight hits Tuesday in Vancouver, Milan Lucic led the Bruins with four against the Flames. Dion Phaneuf and Jim Vandermeer each landed four for Calgary . . . Phaneuf, initially credited with two goals (his second was tipped by Mike Cammalleri), logged an impressive 31:12, some six minutes more than Bruins workhorse Zdeno Chara (25:09) . . . Asked after the loss if extras Matt Hunwick and Vladimir Sobotka might be sent to the minors, Julien said, "If we keep playing games like tonight, they might see a spot in our lineup. You not only earn your spot in the lineup, but you have to keep it, too." . . . Best at the faceoff dot all night: Calgary's Steve Conroy (13 of 20, 65 percent) . . . Dustin Boyd led all shooters with seven . . . Rather than show up in Boston with red eyes en masse, the Bruins remained in Calgary last night and will fly to Bedford this morning. They take the ice tomorrow night at TD Banknorth Garden - presumably with the faceoff dots placed and painted to code - against the Stars.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com.