Tim Thomas Beats Sidney Crosby, Continues To Lead Boston Bruins Renaissance

2011 may mean many things to many people.  It could been the year you met your wife, had your first child, passed the bar exam or got your driver’s license.  In New England, however 2011 was the year that a new golden era began for the men wearing the spoked “B”.  A vision quest that began last April in a thrilling 7 game series against their ancient rivals from Montreal that continued through exorcisms against Tampa Bay and Vancouver rolled into Pittsburgh last night where the Bruins defeated the Penguins 3-1 in a battle for conference supremacy.

Pittsburgh hoisted Lord Stanley’s cup at the end of the 2009-2010 season, and as Tony Massarotti noted in yesterday’s edition of the Boston Globe were noticeably absent from the Bruins Quest for The Cup last spring. With stardust center Sidney Crosby on the sidelines the Penguins were unable to defend their crown last spring, and some have questioned whether or not the Bruins had the fire power to stand tall against the talented team from the steel city.

The Bruins were backed by the resounding play folk hero goalie Tim Thomas who checked in with a remarkable 45 save effort en route to silencing the city of Pittsburgh and asserting the Bruins as the true beasts of the east. In the winner’s dressing room after the game Thomas had this to say,

"We don't know how we're going to win every night. We're going to do it different ways with different guys, but all of us together at the same time. It's been pretty nice to be a part of this team the last month."

The outstanding play Tim Thomas was matched by the play of the team’s captain, Zdeno Chara, who also submitted yet another virtuoso performance in a game that saw the Bruins PK stop not one, but two 5-3 opportunities for the high powered Penguins.

In a post game conversation Chara offered the following assessment of his team,

“We’re playing with confidence, but what I think is the important thing is that we are sticking to our game plan. We’re not doing anything different just because we’re winning, or who we’re playing , we are playing our game and everything is falling into place.’’

The goal scoring on this evening provided an excellent metaphor for the depth of this hockey team. The Bruins pride themselves on rolling 4 lines out every night that have a chance to impact the game on multiple fronts, and when the team is rolling as it is now, no club in the NHL is deeper then the Bruins. A hardworking goal from the ultimate hardworking 4^th liner, Gregory Campbell started the scoring for the Bruins, a laser from newcomer Benoit Pouliot gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead, and the uber-talented Tyler Seguin put the game away with his goal early in the 3^rd period.

Some folks thought that the story of the 2011 Stanley Cup Champions was a fairy tale for long suffering New Englanders, but now it’s clear to see what began last spring and has carried on into today, and launched a new golden era for the Boston Bruins.