To the 8th power

Neely sees Bruins extend win streak

Manny Fernandez denies Atlanta's Todd White at the doorstep for one of the goaltender's 32 saves. (Gregory smith/Associated Press)

ATLANTA - After last night's 2-1 win, Boston's eighth straight victory, Cam Neely entered the visiting dressing room, spotted Manny Fernandez, and stuck out his paw for the goalie to shake.

A goal-scoring Hall of Famer like Neely would know best just how good Fernandez was.

"Really good Manny," the vice president told the goalie. "Really good."

Fernandez, under siege from a hungry Atlanta club eager to put two mediocre performances against the Bruins behind it, stopped all but one shot, pulling off a show-stopper in the final minute on a shot that should have tied the score, 2-2.

First, Fernandez stopped a wrister by forward Todd White that he didn't glimpse until the puck was nearly on him. With little time to react, Fernandez couldn't steer the rebound out of harm's way. Instead, it dropped in the crease to forward Bryan Little, who was staring at a wide-open net. But with a lunge to his left, Fernandez dropped his glove down on Little's shot, then covered the puck with 38.9 seconds remaining.

Fernandez had slammed the door firmly shut.

"Nice battle," said Fernandez of the sequence. "Just battle, battle, battle. It's nothing to it. Bunch of guys in front and I didn't see the first shot until the end. I gave a bad rebound right on the doorstep there. Desperation. Some nights you get those. Some nights you don't."

It was perhaps the sharpest of 32 saves for Fernandez, who looked calm, controlled, and smooth despite the relentless attack of the fast-moving Thrashers, who attacked hard on a night when some of the Bruins didn't have their best stuff.

"This isn't bulletin-board material, but they don't have a lot to lose," defenseman Aaron Ward said of the Thrashers. "We're on a roll. The best approach is to throw the kitchen sink. They came and got the lead right off the bat. They played a high-intensity game and they served notice to us that we were losing a few battles in the first period, and we had to come back and reevaluate our intensity level. I think we addressed that in the second."

With 14.8 seconds remaining in the first period, Little gave Atlanta a 1-0 lead when he flew into the zone with speed and whipped a shot that skittered off the stick of Matt Hunwick and beat Fernandez.

But at 1:43 of the second period, Phil Kessel took a feed from Marc Savard and snapped a wrister from the point that ticked off the glove of goalie Kari Lehtonen (26 saves) and found the back of the net, tying the score at 1-1.

Then it was time for Michael Ryder to take over.

Ryder was jettisoned by the Canadiens after stumbling through a 14-goal 2007-08 in which he became a healthy scratch in the postseason. This year, reunited with old coach Claude Julien, Ryder has emerged as one of the top free agent signings of last summer. He's skating. He's hitting. He's showing no fear of the danger zones. He's regained his goal-scoring confidence. And he's been the difference-maker in seven games already this season.

In the third period, Hunwick and Blake Wheeler combined to win a battle on the left wall in the Atlanta zone. The puck landed on the stick of David Krejci, who entered last night riding an eight-game scoring streak.

As Krejci gained control of the puck, Ryder knew exactly what to do: drive to the net to create a two-on-one. As Ryder charged down the right wing, Krejci threaded a cross-ice pass to his linemate's stick. Ryder, having shaken the backcheck of defenseman Nathan Oystrick, chipped the puck over Lehtonen for his 14th goal and seventh game-winning strike.

"I think what we're seeing now is the real Michael Ryder," said Julien. "He scored 30 goals every year except for last year. We've said that from Day 1. Everybody's talking about the one year, but they're not talking about the other eight he's had since junior. The thing I liked about his goal tonight is that he went to the net hard."

Once Ryder had given his club the lead, it was up to Fernandez to keep it. No sweat. Fernandez had to scramble on several plays, either scurrying from post to post or even flopping on his stomach one time. But for the most part, he played a quiet game, relying on his positioning and quickness to get his equipment in front of Atlanta's attempts.

"We think he controls his rebounds extremely well," Julien said. "Technically he's always been very sound. He's always in good position for the second shot and tonight, third at times. He's been very good."