Notes: Thomas can't beat Quick

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By JoeHaggerty
CSNNE.com

LOS ANGELESTim Thomas might not have known that Jonathan Quick was born and bred as a New Englander when asked about his goaltending counterpart after Monday nights 2-0 loss to the Kings at the Staples Center.Its pretty clear that the Connecticut resident and former UMass standout gets all kinds of jacked up to play the Bruins team he grew up watching while living in a neighboring state, and Quick improved to 5-0 in his career against the Black and Gold after a 34 save shutout Monday.Thomas was pretty good in his own right while making 32 saves for the Bruinsincluding a couple of beauties against Michael Handzus and Jarret Stollbut hasnt managed to beat the Kings in any of his last five appearances against Quick backed by hockey royalty."If we scored, that could have been a momentum changer and probably the whole game is different, said Tim Thomas. "He Quick always seems to play a good game against me. I don't know if he gets his rivalry juices up, but having said that they scored both their goals on the doorstep.Thomas then went to articulate how little a price was being paid by the forwards crashing the net and the defensemen pinching down in a shutout defeat that featured no sustained offense from the Bruins. Thomas saw the fortunate bounces all the way from the opposite side of the ice, but there were no crashing, hustling teammates ready to take advantage of them.I can't remember a doorstep chance that we got off a rebound or a puck laying there. The chances were there, but we weren't there." Shawn Thornton recognized the dull edge to his team early in the game, and picked a fight with Kings winger Kyle Clifford that turned into an extended bout between the two combatants. Both players traded some pretty good blows before skating to their respective dressing rooms.Unfortunately Blake Wheeler waswhistled ona questionableholding the stick penalty minutes later that wiped out any possible momentum gain from Thorntons fisticuffs. Monday night was Bostons first shutout loss since a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 20. By the end of Mondays loss the fourth line and Patrice Bergerons line were kept intact, and things had been shuffled so that Blake Wheeler, Tyler Seguin and Nathan Horton were skating togetherand Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Michael Ryder were paired together on a top scoring line.Its understandable that it would take a game or two for each of the forward combinations to gel together in the absence of Marc Savard, but anybody watching the game could see it was about paying the price. In Bostons case it was about being unwilling to pay the price for goals and offense after spending four days on the West Coast.I dont think there was much offense from any line, said Julien. There was just nothing. You couldnt get anything out of any of the lines offensively. The Bruins were 0-for-3 on the power play with little flow or movement in a Marc Savard-less world, and only managed six shots on net in those man advantage chances. This will be the most difficult adjustment without No. 91 around to help distribute the puck on Bostons special teams opportunities.One had to wonder if part of Mondays lifeless vibe had to do with the team learning of Savard's diagnosis in the hours leading up to puck drop, but one Bruins player assured that had nothing to do with what happened on the ice. It appears the LA Kings adopted a game plan that may become more prevalent with Steve Kampfer as time goes on: Hit Kampfer hard and hit him often. Every chance the Kings had, that's what they did to the slick defenseman. Dustin Brown blasted him up high with a shoulder to the head area in the corner that shook Kampfer up during the second period, and slowed him down a bit in a few shifts following that. The more success Kampfer has, the more hes going to be met with that punishing physicality and need to succeed in spite of that. The NHL announced today that goaltender Tim Thomas has been named the First Star of the Week, for the week ending January 22. Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos and New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur are the second and third stars, respectively.Thomas won all three of his starts last week for the Bruins, going 3-0-0 with one shutout and allowed just four goals on 106 shots (.962 save percentage). He made 31 saves in the clubs 7-0 win over the Hurricanes on Monday, January 17 and followed that up with a 43-save performance during Bostons 3-2 win over Carolina on Tuesday. Thomas finished his week with a 32-save effort in Colorado on Saturday.For the season, Thomas currently leads all NHL goaltenders in goals against average, save percentage and is tied for the league lead in shutouts with seven. This is his third separate Star honor of the season, as he was named the First Star of the Week (October 31) and Second Star of the Month (October) earlier this year.The Boston Bruins Foundation will donate 1,000 in Thomas name to the childrens charity of his choicethe second time this season that Thomas has been the First Star and earned a donation to his charity of choice.
Joe Haggerty can be reached at jhaggerty@comcastsportsnet.com.Follow Joe on Twitter at http:twitter.comHackswithHaggs

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