Bruins Beat Senators In Home Finale, Thomas Sets NHL Record

By KC Downey in Bruins, Featured, Top Story ⋅ April 9, 2011 at 5:05pm ⋅ Post a comment

With the division already locked up, the Bruins were looking to give the TD Garden fans one last reason to cheer on Saturday before the postseason begins. They did just that, shutting down the Senators (and ending their playoff hopes) in a 3-1 win.

Tim Thomas, assuming he doesn’t play in the regular season finale Sunday, set the single-season NHL record for save percentage, with a .9381 mark. In finishing with 31 saves in 32 chances Saturday, he breaks Dominik Hasek’s .9366 save percentage in the 1998-99 season and appears on the fast track to win his second Vezina Trophy in three years.

Thomas allowed the lone Ottawa goal late in the first period, with Bobby Butler (a local boy from Marlborough, Mass.) notching his tenth goal of the year to tie it up. Daniel Paille got the scoring going with his sixth goal of the year (a redirect deflection of Gregory Campbell’s pass to the middle) midway through the period.

Nathan Horton broke the 1-1 tie just a minute into the second period with his 26th goal, scoring it on a power play. Rich Peverly added a late goal in the third to give the B’s a two-goal cushion.

Game Notes:

The Bruins can still get the East’s No. 2 seed, but they’ll need to win on Sunday to have a chance.
Mark Recchi played his 1,652nd game, passing Chris Chelios for fourth on the all-time list.
Patrice Bergeron and Dennis Seidenberg were healthy scratches.