• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Savard, Thomas lead Bruins over Capitals

Jan 4, 2008 - 4:19 AM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- Marc Savard and Tim Thomas helped the Boston Bruins continue their dominance of the Washington Capitals.

Savard snapped an eight-game goalless drought in the second period and Thomas made 31 saves en route to his first shutout of the season as the Bruins blanked the Capitals, 2-0, at TD Banknorth Garden on Thursday.

Former Capital Glen Metropolit added two assists for Boston, which won for the ninth time in its last 11 meetings with Washington. The Bruins have not lost to the Capitals in regulation since December 11, 2003.

Both teams skated to a scoreless standoff in the first period, though both had quality chances that just missed.

Five minutes into his first game as a Bruin, newly acquired defenseman Shane Hnidy turned over the puck to Tomas Fleischman at the Bruins' blue line. Fleischman broke in on Thomas, who made a pad save.

Marco Sturm, Boston's second leading goal-scorer, came down the left wing minutes later and fired a slap shot ticketed for Olaf Kolzig's near side. But the shot deflected off the Washington netminder and then the goal post.

"Olie was playing really good," Thomas said. "I knew it was going to be a tight game and knew it was probably going to come down to one goal."

Two minutes into the second period, Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin nearly extended his scoring streak to eight games when his wrist shot rang off the left post.

"I think it was the most terrible game on the season for us," a frustrated Ovechkin said. "We don't move, we don't shoot the puck. I don't know. We were sleeping today, everybody. I think only Olie played well tonight. I don't know what happened to us."

Savard finally snapped both the tie and his personal drought at 13:35 of the second period, when he charged out of the penalty box and into the offensive zone after serving a hooking penalty.

Savard took a pass from Metropolit and shot into traffic. The puck bounced off a body and came back to the center, who fired it into an open net on Kolzig's right side.

"I took a bad penalty, and I knew it," Savard said. "The guys did a great job killing it off. We caught a good break, (Chara) iced it and I got on it and scored from there."

It was Savard's ninth tally of the season and first since December 13 against New Jersey.

"It felt good," Savard added. "I've been getting chances, a lot of shots every night. It just hasn't been going in. Just staying with it gets a little frustrating, but tonight one finally went in."

The Bruins added insurance exactly halfway through the third, when captain Zdeno Chara fired a slap shot from the high slot through a screen during a 5-on-3 advantage for his sixth goal of the season and a 2-0 lead.

It was more than enough for Thomas, who turned aside 11 shots in the first period, 13 in the second and seven in the third for his fifth career shutout.

"I kind of knew all the angles tonight," Thomas said. "Even that one that hit me in the head in the second period, I put my head there on purpose because it was the only gap that (Ovechkin) could get to upstairs because of the bodies that were there. It was kind of clicking, for whatever reason."

"After the first 10 minutes, I thought they played a very tight game like they play, and they wait for their breaks," Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said. "I've always thought Tim Thomas is a great goaltender, and he showed it tonight."

Kolzig, making his eighth straight start, made 28 saves. The former Vezina Trophy winner lost in regulation for the first time since December 20, a span of five games.

Chara added an assist for Boston, which improved to 2-0-0 on its five-game homestand.

With Chara in the penalty box for hooking at 17:41 of the third, the Capitals pulled Kolzig but were unable to score.

"We knew once it was 2-0, it was going to be tough to score one goal against them," Boudreau said. "We knew we were in pretty deep when it was 2-0. We never quit, kept coming after them, but it wasn't to be tonight."