Hunwick takes the place of Hnidy

Veteran sidelined as rookie steps in

Aaron Ward (left) and Shawn Thornton hold a board meeting, using Jason Blake as the board, in the Bruins' 5-2 victory. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff)

Shane Hnidy, last seen putting a hurtin' on Stars defenseman Matt Niskanen Saturday night, remained hindered last night by a lower-body injury (undisclosed, in keeping with the NHL's KGB standards), according to Bruins coach Claude Julien. Hnidy yielded to young blue liner Matt Hunwick when the Bruins faced the Maple Leafs at TD Banknorth Garden.

In his previous appearance this season, Oct. 15, the 23-year-old Hunwick logged 9:56 in a 4-3 shootout loss at Montreal. Last night, he logged 9:43 in the Bruins' 5-2 victory.

The former Michigan standout, selected 224th in the 2004 draft, is in his second year of pro hockey. The Bruins would like him to develop into a puck distributor, capable of making sharp first passes out of the defensive zone, but for now, they're looking for a conservative, error-free approach.

"Hopefully, he'll keep his game simple," said Julien following the day-of-game skate, "because it's been a while since he's played. If we don't notice him out there, then it's a good sign."

Julien eased Hunwick into the equation, initially double-shifting Zdeno Chara on pairings with Aaron Ward and Mark Stuart. Hunwick finally got on the ice with Ward as his running mate.

"I felt pretty good," said Hunwick. "I jumped into the play a couple of times, and when you do that, you wonder how you're going to feel. I felt like my wind was good. I didn't get a ton of minutes, but I felt OK out there."

It's Thomas, of course
Tim Thomas, left off the NHL's All-Star ballot that came out this week, made his fifth straight start in the Boston net, opposing veteran Vesa Toskala, who let in a handful in his last start, a 5-4 overtime loss to the Hurricanes.

"I've had a lot of good goalies," said Leafs coach Ron Wilson, ex- of the Sharks, where Toskala manned the net before being swapped to Toronto, "and their strength is they live in the moment."

Thomas, who recorded back-to-back 1-0 shutouts last week in Edmonton and Vancouver, owned a .970 save percentage over his previous four starts (132 shots/128 saves) and a miserly 0.99 goals-against average. Factoring in his 34 saves last night, he now has a .964 save percentage over his last five outings.

Rook is a rock
Hub hockey fans had their second eyewitness view of top rookie Luke Schenn, the hard-rock defenseman the Leafs made the No. 5 pick in the draft in June. These days, Schenn is pairing with Jeff Finger, the ex-Colorado defenseman who signed a four-year, $14 million free agent deal, as the club's top shutdown duo.

Asked what is the hardest part of the learning curve for a rookie defenseman, Wilson said, "Dealing with you guys - the media monster."

Turning serious, Wilson lauded the 19-year-old for having a busy stick, being a big body, and already adding 6 pounds of muscle to his large frame (now 6 feet 2 inches, approximately 222 pounds). The kid has been averaging around 21:30 in ice time per game, but Wilson said the Leafs project him soon to be handling upward of 25 minutes - the territory typically traversed by elite blue liners.

Schenn logged 19:13 in ice time and registered five hits, one fewer than Ward's game high.

A little Dunkin'?
The Leafs fell into a 2-0 hole here in their last visit, Oct. 23, and turned it on for a 4-2 win. In fact, heading into last night, the Leafs had fallen into a 2-0 deficit in four straight starts. By 7:46 of the first period, they had increased their streak to five games.

The secret to a better start for the Blue-and-White? "I've been thinking of going to Dunkin' Donuts," said Wilson, the ex-Providence College Friar, before the opening faceoff, "buying one of those 10-cup boxes they sell, and going around the stalls of some of our guys and saying, 'Have a cup of coffee and be ready to go.' "

Perhaps they tricked him and slipped decaf into those cups?

Around in circles
The Bruins sagged in the faceoff circle, winning 20 of 46 draws (43 percent) . . . David Krejci won only 2 of 9 at the dot . . . Prior to last night, the question was, would there be a carryover of the rough stuff, on display here Saturday night against Dallas, with the hard-working Leafs in town? Julien hoped his club would carry some of that emotion into game No. 13 of the 82-game schedule. "The last game is the last game," he said. "To build on it is one thing, but you also have to turn the page and really focus on whom you're playing against. Certainly, there won't be [Sean] Avery or [Steve ] Ott in [the Toronto] lineup - so let's focus on the team that's going to come and play us hard tonight." . . . Blake Wheeler, who wore No. 42 in his first dozen games, switched to No. 26, obviously paying homage to Mike Milbury. Wheeler's hat trick gave him six career goals. Milbury connected 49 times in 754 career games.

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