"The puck was bouncing around in my feet a lot," said Thomas. "Their second goal was because of a bouncing puck. It was that kind of a night. Lot of rushes for both teams because the puck bounced on them, then the other team got it back and tried to get it going, then they gave it right back."
At this point, whether he drops into the traditional butterfly or his snowflake, every-save-is-different style, Thomas has performed every action asked of him by his coaches and teammates. And last night, as the hard-working Leafs made life tough on a defense sorely missing Andrew Ference, the Bruins asked Thomas to do that much more.
So Thomas responded. He showed some quick pads by kicking out successive fast-moving shots by Carlo Colaiacovo and Ian White in the first period. He flopped on his back and batted out a shot by Alexei Ponikarovsky in the second period.
When Stephane Yelle and David Krejci were in the box for roughing penalties, Thomas helped prevent the Leafs from scoring during a 21-second two-man advantage.
Then in the final minute, after Aaron Ward was sent off for cross-checking at 19:33 to give the Leafs a six-on-four advantage, Thomas bricked up his net when overtime seemed like a foregone conclusion.
"I can't say enough about the guy," said coach Claude Julien, who sensed some mental fatigue from his team after it took a two-goal lead. "Since Day 1, he's been great. Our other goaltender has done the job.
"One of the reasons you win hockey games is when your goaltenders are good. We've got two of them right now that are doing a great job."
Under first-year coach Ron Wilson, the Leafs have assumed an identity similar to that of the 2007-08 Bruins: a lunchpail bunch that drives to the dirty areas and hunts for garbage goals. Early in the game, after the Leafs drove to the net and got bodies in front, Thomas knew he would have to work harder than usual to track down pucks.
