Last night, Tim Thomas, so sharp through Octo ber and November, let in a softie for Toronto's first goal, then was chased after the second period (18 saves on 23 shots). The Bruins grabbed a 5-1 second-period lead, but sagged defensively against the never-quit Maple Leafs, who dominated the dirty areas and stormed back to make it a one-goal game heading into the final period.
But this season, the hare-instead-of-the-turtle Bruins have a flammable offense that goes a long way in masking any blemishes that might appear. Thirty-six seconds into the night, Marco Sturm gave his club a 1-0 lead. At 4:34 of the first period, starting goalie Vesa Toskala was headed for the bench after David Krejci gave his club a 2-0 advantage on Boston's fifth shot.
The Bruins tucked four second-period shots behind relief netminder Curtis Joseph. Then when Toskala came back to start the third, the Bruins brought out the whipping stick again by lighting up the Finn with two strikes.
Some numbers:
Krejci: three goals.
Phil Kessel: two goals and an assist, now with points in 16 straight games (sixth longest scoring streak in club history).
Marc Savard: one goal and three helpers.
Mercy.
"I think you've got to be happy with the win," said Claude Julien, rapidly shedding his reputation as a trap-happy, defense-minded coach. "I thought offensively, we did a lot of good things - the way we scored goals, the way we went to the net, the way we shot the pucks, screens, everything else. There were a lot of good plays made offensively."
But in a twist that might usually go unnoticed in a 13-goal game, Manny Fernandez might have been the most important player for the Bruins.
