Fernandez is up to snuff against mighty Red Wings

Despite the traffic at the edge of his crease, Manny Fernandez sees to it that the puck stays out of his net. (Justine Hunt/Globe Staff)

Manny Fernandez was on top of his game. He was on top of the Red Wings' game, too.

In the Bruins' 4-1 victory over the reigning Stanley Cup champions last night at TD Banknorth Garden, the only score Detroit could come up with was a power-play goal, a centering pass from Jiri Hudler that bounced off the skate of Bruin Marc Savard.

Fernandez started consecutive games for the first time this season because Tim Thomas was under the weather yesterday. The Bruins look more and more like a team with two No. 1 goalies, which is a funny kind of math, but if the Bruins can make it add up, it is a huge advantage.

"We came in this morning and Timmy was set to go but he's been sick the last few days," Fernandez said. "So he wasn't feeling good - I've got to be prepared for stuff like that, and also the team, knowing who we were playing tonight, for them to realize that, and for them not to play a different game."

Fernandez, who played just four games last season before undergoing season-ending knee surgery, is 7-0-1 in his last eight starts, and has a six-game win streak, the longest by a Bruin goalie since Andrew Raycroft won six straight from Jan. 7-20, 2004.

Against the skilled and savvy Wings, he made the right choice when he had to choose, sliding across the crease to close the gap between post and pad when the Wings tried to jam pucks past him. He opened the game with a trio of saves on Dan Cleary from point-blank range, the first with his stick and two more with his pads, and finished the game with 29 saves. He has a 2.32 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.

The Red Wings used two goalies. Ty Conklin was yanked after his defense left Chuck Kobasew unattended at the right faceoff dot, from where the Bruin sliced in a skimmer to make it 3-0 at 8:01 of the second period. Conklin allowed three goals on nine shots; Chris Osgood took over and gave up one goal on 10 shots.

At the other end, Fernandez closed off the Wings, twice denying the NHL's top power play. In the second period, he fended off the man-advantage unit with a blocker save on Johan Franzen and then a glove save on Franzen before wrapping up the penalty kill with a great save on Marian Hossa, moving across the goal to deflect the puck.

"Our offense has been a big story but I can't say enough about my teammates, the way they're clearing the front of the net, limiting them to the outside shot," said Fernandez. "When you get to play on a team like that, it's amazing, it's an easy game to play."

The crowd noticed Fernandez, twice starting to chant "Man-ny Man-ny" - when they weren't taunting the opposition netminders.

"We seemed in control of our breakouts and in control of everything," said Fernandez. "We were blocking shots at the right time, we're cleaning rebounds; we were doing everything - we're getting the puck out, something that was tough for us at the beginning of the year. Now we're getting them out. It's not the same game at all. Like I said, it's been really fun to be a part of this."