WASHINGTON, D.C.Tim Thomas said he didnt think anything was far out of the ordinary when he heard boos before, during and after he was announced as the starting goaltender against the Capitals Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Center. In the Tim Thomas-against-the-world mentality that the Bs goaltender has been forced to employ throughout his amazing career, it probably feels normal.
In case you didnt notice Im booed in every other building in the NHL, so its not something I would notice at all, said Thomas, who proceeded to shut the boo birds up with 35 magnificent saves in a 4-1win over the Caps on Super Bowl Sunday afternoon.
Thats actually not the case, though. Sure he gets booed in Montreal and Vancouver, but the 37-year-old Thomas is viewed as something of an NHL rags-to-riches story in most NHL cities and is customarily greeted with mild approval.
But that wasnt the case in the Washington D.C. area where he opted to skip out on the White House two weeks ago during a Stanley Cup celebration. So Thomas had to expect hed get some kind of reaction, and he did.
Just like hell get a strong reaction in Philadelphia the next time he plays there. But then it was over just as the entire White House thing has seemingly washed away as the player and team get further removed from it.
Thomas, as he does so very well, blocked it all and blocked out everything the desperate Capitals threw at him over 60 minutes of intense hockey. The Bs masked man served notice early in the game that he was on when he stopped a Marcus Johansson shot from the left face-off circleand then somehow recovered in time to swallow up a sizzling Alex Ovechkin rebound bid coming from the complete opposite direction.
Johansson put it in a good spot where I couldnt completely control the rebound, said Thomas. I knew I was putting it to an area. I didnt know who was there, but then I saw Ovechkin winding up quickly to take a shot at the rebound. I just used my reflexes to get to the middle of the net as quickly as possible. Fortunately I was able to get it off my blocker and then off the butt end of my stick.
But that was just the opening number for the Tank.
Thomas followed that up with a right pad kick save on Alexander Semin during a partial breakaway midway through the first period, and seemed to ignite the offense with his sterling play between the pipes. Within a few minutes Rich Peverley and Milan Lucic had teamed up for Bostons first goal of the game, and it seemed like more than ample offensive support for the red-hot Thomas.
In truth the Caps would scratch for a late goal when lackadaisical back-checking, Joe Corvo defensive indifference and a bad bounce off Dennis Seidenbergs body all conspired together for a Joel Ward strike. But Thomas was flashing the kind of between-the-pipes swagger that hasnt been present for nearly two months dating back to a Dec. 12 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
Thomas made 14 saves in the final period as the frantic Washington skaters buzzed around the net, and effectively closed out the first game the Bs truly deserved to win in the last two weeks.
I liked a lot of things that we did. Our goaltending was good, said Claude Julien. Our play up the ice was good. I thought all of the guys competed hard for 60 minutes. Some of the saves that you saw today is just Timmy and the kind of goaltending that he can provide for us. He was very good.
It was also an interesting call from Bs coach Claude Julien, who went against the natural inclination to give Tuukka Rask the start on consecutive matinee game days. Instead Julien again called Thomas No. 30 for the second consecutive daythe first time hes done that all yearand the choice paid extreme dividends for a Bs goaltender that might just be entering another one of his patented hot streaks.
Thats the first time Ive played on consecutive days this year? Wow, I didnt even realize that. I felt fine, said Thomas, who also looked solid in a 26-save losing effort against the Penguins on Saturday afternoon. Sometimes it can be helpful and easier for me to get the rhythm right off the bat. Its almost like a continuation of yesterdays game.
Overall were starting to go in the right direction and were starting to play the kind of hockey that the Boston Bruins play.
His .972 save percentage in the Sunday victory was his best since that Canadiens game and ended a stretch of seven games where his save percentage dropped to a very un-Thomas .900 with a mediocre 3-3-0 record.
Perhaps the impending White House visit was bugging him or perhaps it was a case of midseason fatigue. Whatever it was it appears that Thomas has overcome it and emerged on the other side, ready to carry the defensively-sound Bruins for a while.
One thing is clear from Thomas end. He was happy to be simply talking about the game of hockey in his second trip to the nations capital in the last two weeks after the teams first step into D.C. led to a deconstruction of his political beliefs. This time it was simply Thomas stopping pucks, tossing up zeroes and letting his play do the talking for him.
This is a lot more of what Im used to, said Thomas when asked if it was better simply talking about hockey in the shadow of the White House.
Amen to that, Timmy. Amen.