B's Win 4th Straight

UPDATE 10:38 AM: Tim Thomas could've played in Wednesday's win over the Wild but Coach Claude Julien will not rush him back as the B's have been playing well of late. The coach confirmed that Thomas will be the number one goalie upon his return to the lineup, despite the inspired play of the young Rask.

What an unbelievable game! The Bruins, behind the brilliant play of G Tuukka Rask, won for the fourth consecutive game by a score of 2-1. The talented netminder stopped 28 of 29 shots and looks poised between the pipes.

The Bruins finish the roadtrip a perfect 4-0 and it looks the team is finally beginning to gel now that they're getting healthy. Winger Byron Bitz scored the first goal of the game in the first period. Minnesota tied it up with a goal from Andrew Ebbett in the 2nd, and that's all the scoring the game would see until the shootout period.

With just under two minutes remaining in the OT period, Dennis "The Show" Wideman was called for a penalty that left the Bruins 4-on-3 for the remainder of play in the period. The team did another unbelievable job on the PK tonight and Rask was on another planet with some of the shots that he stoned aside. Minnesota played in last night's contest missing 5 key players and the Bruins were able to capitalize on the opportunity.

Shootout Lineup: BOS-- Patrice Bergeron, Blake Wheeler, Marc Savard, David Krejci
MIN-- Mikko Koivu, Marerk Zidlicky, Eric Belanger, Chuck Kobasew (an old friend)

The first three shooters on each team were each turned aside in their pursuit of the game-winning goal, but it didn't' take long for the B's as the 4th one sent out to center ice, David Krejci, put one past G Niklas Backstrom to send the team to their 4th straight victory and a 12-8-4 record.

The scorching Bruins will host the 15-6-1 New Jersey Devils @ 12 PM on Friday afternoon in a possible playoff preview.

NOTES:

• Milan Lucic left the game with a little less than five minutes remaining in the third period after appearing to injure his knee. He skated off the ice extremely gingerly and looked to be in pain. This will be a situation to monitor, as Lucic had just come back (4 games played) from a broken finger; he has been a sparkplug for the team this season and it would be a devastating blow to lose him for any amount of time again.
• Word on G Tim Thomas is that he may have suffered a broken hand. No timetable has been given for his recovery, but with Rask playing so well the team will not try to rush the veteran goalie back into game action.