BOSTON — Tim Thomas will put his quest for the save percentage record on the line against Ottawa.
Thomas will get the start in goal for the Bruins in the regular-season home finale against the Senators Saturday afternoon at the Garden. Thomas comes in with a league-best .938 save percentage and if he can maintain that, he’ll break the NHL record of .937 set by Dominik Hasek in 1998-99.
Thomas might not be risking too much. He does have an 18-8-2 record with a 1.94 GAA, .937 save percentage and six shutouts in his career against Ottawa, including a 2-1-0 mark, 0.67 GAA, .978 save percentage and two shutouts this season.
The Bruins will have some changes in front of Thomas. Tyler Seguin and Shane Hnidy will return to the lineup, with Patrice Bergeron and Dennis Seidenberg getting the day off for some extra rest before the playoffs.
Seguin will slide right into Bergeron’s spot as the second-line center between Mark Recchi and Brad Marchand, and may be a final case for the rookie to make a case for seeing action in the postseason.
The Senators have been hit hard with injuries and will field a young lineup. At least a couple names should be familiar though, as Marlborough, Mass. native and former University of New Hampshire star Bobby Butler is on the top line with 9-11-20 totals in 35 games and recently signed Merrimack College star Stephane Da Costa will be playing his fourth NHL game.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Tyler Seguin-Mark Recchi
Rich Peverley-Chris Kelly-Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille-Greg Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Johnny Boychuk
Tomas Kaberle-Adam McQuaid
Andrew Ference-Shane Hnidy
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Patrice Bergeron, Dennis Seidenberg
Projected Senators lines
Forwards
Milan Michalek-Jason Spezza-Bobby Butler
Colin Greening-Ryan Shannon-Erik Condra
Nick Foligno-Stephane Da Costa-Chris Neil
Zack Smith-Jesse Winchester-Francis Lessard
Defense
Chris Phillips-Brian Lee
Filip Kuba-Andre Benoit
David Hale-Derek Smith
Goalies
Craig Anderson
Curtis McElhinney
Scratches: Cody Bass, Marek Svatos (concussion), Daniel Alfredsson (back), Peter Regin (shoulder), Matt Carkner (knee), Sergei Gonchar (concussion), Erik Karlsson (thigh)
