In the end, Thomas couldn't ward off winner

So what words of consolation did Carolina's Cam Ward have for Tim Thomas? What could Ward possibly say to soothe Thomas's dejection after the Bruins goaltender allowed Scott Walker to score the winning goal at 18:46 of the extra period on a rebound of Ray Whitney's slapper?

"He told me I had his vote for Vezina," Thomas said, "and I told him to go win the Conn Smythe again."

Thomas swallowed hard. At that moment, it appeared he didn't feel much like a Vezina Trophy finalist, awarded to the league's top goaltender. Thomas would gladly trade a Vezina for an opportunity to play in the Eastern Conference finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Ward and the Hurricanes earned that right after winning this hard-fought series, 4-3.

"I mean, obviously, I'm disappointed," Thomas said. "And Pretty tired, you know. That's about it."

All he wanted was to give his team a chance.

And, for the better part of 78 minutes, Thomas did precisely that.

"Timmy's done great, all year and all playoffs," Patrice Bergeron said of Thomas, who posted a 7-4 record and a 1.91 goals-against average in the playoffs. "He deserves all the credit. He gave us a chance to win in every game and I hope he gets the trophy."

Time and again, Thomas turned away the Hurricanes, making 34 saves.

After Byron Bitz put the Bruins ahead, 1-0, with the first playoff goal of his career at 7:42 of the first period, Rod Brind'Amour redirected Dennis Seidenberg's slapper from the slot at 13:59 to tie it. Sergei Samsonov beat Thomas with a backdoor chip off a Joni Pitkanen cross to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead at 7:45 of the second period.

When Milan Lucic potted the tying goal, roofing Marc Savard's slick pass at 6:19 of the third, it gave the Bruins and Thomas a new lease. Thomas narrowly escaped giving up a power-play tally at the start of the third when Aaron Ward cleared a puck that slipped through Thomas's pads and came close to crossing the line.

In overtime, fatigue began to set in.

"I'm sure both teams were feeling it - a seven-game series," Thomas said. "As hard as that series was battled, I'm sure there was fatigue all around."

Thomas seemed to sap the life out of the Hurricanes at times in overtime, making seven stops, some spectacular, to keep the Bruins in contention.

"My thought was just to give us a chance," Thomas said. "I felt like we were going to break loose and get it. I was just trying to keep them from scoring as long as possible. It [sounds] simple, but that's what I was doing."

Until, that is, Walker scored the winning goal.

"I saw a guy [Whitney] coming down the lane, winding up for the shot. He took the shot, and I made the save," Thomas said. "The rebound got up in the air and I couldn't completely control it. Obviously, it was in a spot that I couldn't [reel] it in. He put it up in the air and by the time I knew it, he had already whacked at it. I didn't see him coming to the net. I was too focused on making the save on the shot."