The Bruins finally got the start they needed as Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin scored in the first and Milan Lucic added an empty-netter in the third. That was more than enough for Thomas, as he helped the Bruins improve to 9-0-0 when scoring first and get at least a little bit of payback against the Flyers.
They won't get to celebrate for long though, as the Bruins get right back to work on Thursday when they host Tampa Bay at the Garden.
Third Period, 18:12, Bruins 3-0: The Bruins have a 3-0 lead that should be safe for a chance as Milan Lucic scores an empty-netter
Lucic scores from just inside the blue line on the left side off a feed from Krejci to put this one away.
Third Period, 17:35, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins have an open net to shoot at, as the Flyers pull Bobrovsky down two goals.
Third Period, 13:05, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins with another bid, as Krejci swoops in alone from the right side, but his backhand is denied by Bobrovsky.
At the other end of the ice, Boychuk delivers a big hit to flatten van Riemsdyk.
Third Period, 11:50, Bruins 2-0: Chara will need the ice packs after this one, as he makes another big block in front, helping Thomas keep it 2-0.
Third Period, 9:49, Bruins 2-0: Some solid forechecking work by Thornton down low in the midst of a line change. He sets up Krejci for a good bid in front, but Bobrovsky makes the save.
Third Period, 9:20, Bruins 2-0: Chara is back on the ice for Boston. He took a shot off his right foot earlier this period and limped off in pain, so that's a welcome sight for the Bruins to see the captain back out so quickly.
Third Period, 8:08, Bruins 2-0: The hitting is really picking up now, with Shelley throwing his weight around for Philly and Seidenberg delivering a couple big shots for Boston.
Third Period, 5:10, Bruins 2-0: The Flyers have switched up their lines here in the third as Peter Laviolette tries to get something going offensively.
Third Period, 1:40, Bruins 2-0: Nathan Horton, who has been quiet again in this one, has a chance and beats Bobrovsky, but rings the post.
Third Period, 0:50, Bruins 2-0: Chara limps off in pain after blocking a shot off the inside of his right foot. The Bruin can't afford to lose him for any length of time.
Third Period, 0:00, Bruins 2-0: And we're under way in the third, as the Bruins look to finally close out a win against the Flyers.
Second Intermission Notes: The Bruins are one period away from putting together a solid night and halting their skid, but they still have a long way to go to secure these two points.
Tim Thomas has been the story so far, stopping all 31 shots he's faced, including a penalty shot.
Philadelphia's power-play struggles continue, as they are 0 for 4 in this one in addition to the missed penalty shot, making the Flyers now 2 for 37 in the last eight games.
Adam McQuaid has seen limited action in his return to the lineup, but has been solid with a hit and a takeaway in 7:12. Zdeno Chara has seen far more ice-time at 17:40, and he's made the most of it with six shots, two hits, two blocked shots and two takeaways.
End Second Period, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins couldn't extend the lead in the middle frame, but Tim Thomas made sure the Flyers didn't cut into the deficit at all as the Bruins will take a 2-0 lead into the third.
Second Period, 18:35, Bruins 2-0: Thomas does it again, sliding post to post to rob Andreas Nodl on a one-timer from the right circle off a pass by Mike Richards.
Second Period, 17:20, Bruins 2-0: Lots of back and forth action in that 4 on 4, with Krejci having the best chance for the Bruins.
But the Flyers counter with Hartnell driving to the net, only to get tripped up by Ference. Hartnell is awarded a penalty stop, but Thomas makes another huge save, and Hartnell crashes into the boards after the shot for good measure.
Second Period, 15:13, Bruins 2-0: The bad blood continues as Hartnell takes a slash at Thomas as the goalie ties up the puck at the right post.
Thomas counters with a straight left to Hartnell's face. that brings everyone in, with Hartnell and Marchand dropping the gloves, but they get broken up before anything can develop. The only penalties are matching slashing minors to Hartnell and Thomas, with Seguin serving Thomas' penalty.
Second Period, 14:49, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins fail to convert that power-play chance, but there will be more players headed to the box in short order.
Second Period, 12:49, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins finally get a power play of their own, as Shelley takes a bad retaliatory penalty for running Adam McQuaid after McQuaid hit Blair Betts along the boards.
Shelley and Lucic nearly dropped the gloves after the whistle in a battle that goes back to Lucic's first-period hit on Shelley, but they decide not to go at this point. Shelley gets the only call for roughing.
Second Period, 10:36, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins kill off another, as the Flyers are now 0 for 4 in this one and 2 for 37 in their last eight games with the man-advantage.
It took another big save by Thomas on carter to keep Philly off the board on this one though.
Second Period, 8:36, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins are short-handed again, this time with Thornton off for holding.
Even with Philly's struggles on the power play, Boston can't afford to keep giving them chances.
Second Period, 8:10, Bruins 2-0: Thomas does it again, as he dives back across the crease to rob van Riemsdyk in close.
Second Period, 5:49, Bruins 2-0: The Flyers come within inches of getting on the board as Scott Hartnell briefly has an open net at the right post, but a combination of Thomas and the post keeps the puck up to maintain the two-goal lead for Boston.
Second Period, 3:23, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins kill that penalty off as well, thanks to some acrobatic work by Thomas late in the power play, as he flopped around to make a couple more of his trademark unconventional saves on Briere and Carter after a Bruins turnover behind the net.
Second Period, 1:23, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins killed off the end of that penalty, but will have another penalty to kill right away as David Krejci is sent off for hooking.
Second Period, 0:00, Bruins 2-0: The second period is under way, with the Bruins needing to kill off the final 10 seconds of Seidenberg's tripping call.
First Intermission Notes: The Bruins finally got the start the needed, with Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin each ending scoring droughts.
Bergeron scored his first goal in five games and just his second in 14 games, while Seguin added his first in seven games and second in 15.
Boston leads despite being outshot 15-10, but Tim Thomas has been on his game again. He's been helped by his defense too, as the Bruins have seven blocked shots, led by Johnny Boychuk's three.
The Bruins are 8-0-0 when scoring the first goal in a game and 7-0-0 when leading after the first period. So things look good, but the Bruins can't get overconfident. This Flyers teams has come back from bigger deficits than this against Boston after all.
End First Period, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins will take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, as they finally put together a strong opening frame and get to play with a lead for a change.
First Period, 18:10, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins will be short-handed again as Dennis Seidenberg is called for tripping.
After a long delay before an offsides finally drew the whistle, the Flyers will be on the power play for 10 seconds in the second period if they don't score before the end of the first.
First Period, 16:35, Bruins 2-0: The gloves are off, as Shelley is back after being shaken up by Lucic's hit, and the Philly tough guy isn't a happy camper.
He and Shawn Thornton engage in a long battle, with both men landing shots. Shelley connected on some big rights in the middle of the bout, but Thornton finished strong.
First Period, 15:12, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins make it 2-0 as Tyler Seguin finishes a nice passing play as he takes a backhand dish from Michael Ryder, cuts to the front of the net and goes top shelf to beat Bobrovsky.
Brad Marchand gets the secondary assist with a nice pass of his own up to Ryder.
First Period, 13:31, Bruins 1-0: The Flyers are continuing to get chances on Thomas, but the Bruins have been able to hold on to the 1-0 lead early and have made some forays into the Philly end as well.
First Period, 10:04, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins kill off the penalty, though the Flyers threatened in the closing seconds of the power play with Danny Briere and Jeff Carter buzzing around the net.
First Period, 8:04, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins will go on the penalty kill now, as Lucic is sent off for tripping.
He took Jody Shelley hard into the boards, which drew the ire of Chris Pronger, but nothing further developed.
The Flyers are 2 for 33 on the power play in the last seven games.
First Period, 5:38, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins strike first with a power-play goal by Patrice Bergeron.
Milan Lucic started the play with a nifty drive in from the left wing, but Bobrovsky stoned his backhand from the top of the crease. But Bergeron stole the Flyers' attempt to clear the rebound and fired it home from the high slot.
First Period, 4:52, 0-0: The Bruins will get a chance to take over momentum as they go on the first power play of the game after Flyers forward Nikolay Zherdev is called for tripping Chara.
First Period, 4:17, 0-0: The Flyers continue with the early pressure, as Nodl sets up Hartnell in front.
Thomas makes the stop, but Hartnell still crashes into him and takes the net off the moorings.
First Period, 0:40, 0-0: Not the start the Bruins were looking for, as some sloppy play in their own end led to several big chances for the Flyers, but Thomas is able to scramble around his crease to keep the puck out.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: And we're under way in Philadelphia, where the Bruins hope to have a little better showing than the last time they faced the Flyers.
7 p.m.: The Bruins will open this one with Patrice Bergeron up front between Mark Recchi and Blake Wheeler, who moves back to wing.
Zdeno Chara and Andrew Ference start on defense and Tim Thomas is in net as anticipated.
The Flyers counter with Sergei Bobrovsky in goal, Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn on defense and James van Riemsdyk, Mike Richards and Andreas Nodl up front.
It's the 100th career game for former UNH standout van Riemsdyk.
6:50 p.m.: No surprises in the scratches, as Daniel Paille returns to the press box for Boston with Jordan Caron back after missing two games with the flu.
The Flyers scratch Oskars Bartulis on defense, while forward Daniel Carcillo remains out with a knee injury.
The Bruins have no scratches on defense, as they are going with just six blueliners after trading Matt Hunwick to Colorado on Monday. Adam McQuaid returns to the lineup after being scratched the last six games.
6 p.m.: While the Bruins are expected to have Tim Thomas in net on Wednesday, the Flyers will counter with rookie Sergei Bobrovsky.
Bobrovsky, who complained of being tired after starting 12 straight games last month, hasn't played since a shootout loss to Calgary last Friday, but is 12-3-2 with a 2.19 GAA and a .926 save percentage on the year.
5 p.m.: The Bruins didn't have a morning skate on Wednesday, and just four players took to the ice in an optional workout in Philadelphia.
That group included Tuukka Rask, indicating that Tim Thomas will get the start in this one.
The other skaters were injured forwards Marc Savard and Marco Sturm and Danile Paille, who is expected to be the healthy scratch on Wednesday. Savard will definitely not play in this one, but his return is imminent, as Claude Julien has now declared his status as "day-to-day."
For a full breakdown of the first matchup between the Bruins and Flyers since last year's playoff collapse, check out our Facing Off feature.
8 a.m.: The Bruins will get a long-awaited shot at redemption as they travel to Philadelphia on Wednesday for the first time since last spring's playoff collapse.
Boston's squandering of a 3-0 lead in the second round has haunted the Bruins ever since, and those wounds aren't likely to ever be fully closed. Still, the Bruins have to use those bitter memories as motivation, rather than let the past failure weigh on their minds to the point where it affects their performance going forward.
"You store it in the back of your mind," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "You don't forget those things, but talking about it every day doesn't help. If anything it will be more of a hindrance than anything else. This is about saying, 'This is what happened, we need to live with it, we need to remember that because at some point there's no doubt it will come back and be some sort of either a motivational thing or something we'll learn from and make sure it never happens again.'"
Getting even a small measure of revenge with a win on Wednesday won't be easy, as the Flyers have earned points in five straight games and went 9-3-2 in November to take over the top spot in the Atlantic Division. The Bruins, meanwhile, have just one win in their last five games.
The puck drops at 7 p.m., so check back here throughout the day for updates on all the action.
