OTTAWA – Tim Thomas stopped 29 shots against the Ottawa Senators as the Boston Bruins won 2-0 Monday.
Thomas, who has now won ten straight against the Senators (18-14-4), had his fourth shutout of the season. Patrice Bergeron and Marco Sturm scored for the Bruins (17-11-7). Despite being on the losing end Brian Elliott had a solid outing as he faced 29 shots.
The win allowed the Bruins to put an end to a four-game losing streak and wrap-up a three-game road trip on a positive note.
While the Senators fell short they played a solid game, created numerous chances, but just couldn’t find a way to beat the 35-year-old Thomas.
Thomas looked sharp from the start as the Senators had the early jump, but saves on Josh Hennessy and Jesse Winchester set the tone.
The two teams remained scoreless after two periods as both goaltenders were perfect and sometimes lucky.
The Bruins had two power play opportunities in the second, but were unable to create any real threat.
Elliott, who has played 14 of the last 15 games while Pascal Leclaire recuperates from surgery on his fractured cheekbone, had been inconsistent for the most part, but looked solid Monday.
The Bruins finally managed to beat Elliott early in the third as Bergeron scored low stick side. The Senators’ Hennessy failed to clear the puck and Shawn Thornton threw it at the net where Erik Karlsson put little effort in getting the puck out allowing Bergeron to jump in and give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
The Bruins made it 2-0 with just under seven minutes remaining when Sturm beat Elliott with a wrist shot after Ottawa’s Alexandre Picard failed to tie up Sturm as he broke in alone.
Notes: Ottawa was without Leclaire (cheekbone, day-to-day), RW Chris Neil (knee, day-to-day), C Jason Spezza (knee, six weeks), LW Nick Foligno (lower body, out indefinitely), RW Shean Donovan (knee, eight weeks). . . Boston’s Mark Recchi played his 1,525th NHL game, moving him past Brendan Shanahan for 10th place on the NHL’s all-time appearances list. The Bruins were without LW Milan Lucic (ankle, two weeks), D Mark Stuart (sternum, one month) and D Derek Morris (undisclosed, day-to-day). D Andy Wozniewski was a healthy scratch.
