Boston's Patrice Bergeron scored the only goal of the shootout, beating Thrashers netminder Ondrej Pavelec in the first round.
Milan Lucic made his return to the Bruins' lineup, but had a quiet game, registering just a pair of shots in 14:01 of ice time.
Bruins 4, Thrashers 3 (shootout)
Philips Arena, Atlanta, Ga.
Nov. 19, 2009
Headliner: Tuukka Rask is still a young goaltender, and eventually he'll learn how to keep those late shots out of the net. But to Rask's credit, the 22-year-old stepped up his game after allowing the game-tying goal in the final minute of the third period.
Rask stopped three shots in the overtime period before patiently stoning the potent trio of Rich Peverley, Slava Kovlov and Ilya Kovalchuk in the shootout.
It was the perfect way for Rask to bounce back from a deflating goal, and it was what the Bruins needed to pick up an always-crucial two points.
Grinder: Dennis Wideman has taken a lot of heat lately, but his performance on Thursday night may be an indication that he's turned on the afterburners.
The defenseman was visible all night — in a good way — picking up a pair of assists and finishing the night at plus-two. His penalty for hooking Slava Kovlov on a breakaway kept the Thrashers from tying the game with just under six minutes left, and his strength and puck-handling later in the third resulted in some quality scoring chances from David Krejci at the end of regulation.
Weak Link: The Bruins are fortunate to have one of the league's best penalty-killing units, but that doesn't mean the team should have free reign to head to the sin bin all game. Claude Julien likely wasn't pleased with the seven penalties his team took, but fortunately, the Thrashers could only convert on the power play once.
In the third period alone, the B's were whistled for five penalties, including three for hooking, one for tripping and one for interference.
Key Moment: Michael Ryder has had a bull's-eye on his back from a lot of fans who have been looking for more goal scoring. Thursday's effort is sure to lift a lot of that displeasure, as Ryder was able to find the back of the net twice.
After Atlanta tied the game in the second period on a bomb from Ilya Kovalchuk, Ryder gave the Bruins the lead again. Even better for the Bruins: Ryder's goal came on the power play.
On what proved to be a crucial goal, Ryder gathered a pass from David Krejci in his skates and picked the near corner. It was a goal scorer's goal — one that was important on Thursday night and could be a sign of better things to come from Ryder.
What's Next: The B's won't have much time to soak in this win, as they'll be on the road again on Friday night in Buffalo. Two weeks ago, the Bruins beat the Sabres 4-2 at the TD Garden. The Sabres, who are 12-5-1 and first in the Northeast Division, are coming off an ugly 6-2 loss to the Panthers on Wednesday.
