He allowed five goals on 46 shots in the first two games of the Montreal series. Certainly not numbers to inspire panic. It’s just that Thomas had set the bar so high with his historic regular season, during which the Vezina finalist led the league with a 2.00 GAA and set an NHL record with a .938 save percentage.
Even after such a dominant season though, it shouldn’t have been a shock that Thomas took a little time getting into a playoff rhythm after not appearing in a postseason game in two years, as he served as Tuukka Rask‘s backup last spring.
Bruins coach Claude Julien said after the series that Thomas may not have been completely comfortable with at the start of the series against Montreal, but he is certainly happy with the way his netminder’s game has come along as the postseason has progressed.
“I think was in that situation where he just had to take a step back and make sure he was as comfortable as could be,” Julien said after the Bruins practiced at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday. “He has been and he has gotten better and better as the playoffs have moved forward, so that’s an encouraging sign for us. Hopefully that trend continues.”
Thomas looked plenty comfortable late in the Montreal series, making 44 saves in a 2-1 double-overtime win in Game 5 and 34 saves in a 4-3 overtime victory in the Game 7 clincher. And he carried that over to the second round against the Flyers, stopping 31 shots in Saturday’s 7-3 win in Game 1.
Thomas isn’t sure if his slow start against Montreal was a matter of getting comfortable playing in the playoffs again or simply a reflection of the tough time the Bruins always have against the Canadiens.
“I don’t know, possibly,” Thomas said. “That seems so long ago. Those first couple of games, the goals they got were good goals, then they just sat back and played that trap. So I don’t think that helped me to get comfortable.
“Each team is different,” added Thomas, who is now 5-3 with a 2.34 GAA and a .924 save percentage this postseason. “The Montreal Canadiens, we have trouble with that team. As a team and as a goalie, it’s just very difficult [to play them]. If we could figure out exactly what it is that makes it so difficult, it wouldn’t be so difficult. That makes what we ended up doing in the long run even more impressive because we do have trouble with that team.”
The Bruins didn’t have much trouble with the Flyers in Game 1, but Thomas expects that to change in Game 2 on Monday.
“I expect them to play very, very hard, probably give us as hard of a game as they can,” Thomas said. “But the main focus won’t be on what they do. The main focus will be on me and what I do. We’ll try to be prepared for their best knowing that’s what they will bring. We have to bring out best and see what happens.”
So far, Thomas’ best has been more than enough for the Bruins, who appreciate having him as a final line of defense behind them.
“Timmy has been unbelievable for us so far in playoffs and throughout the season,” Bruins forward Brad Marchand said. “We really owe him a lot and we really have to make sure we back him up. Any time you have a goalie back there that saves pucks like he does, it makes it easier going out there and trusting that if you make a mistake he’s going to be there to back you up. It definitely gives you that little extra confidence that he’s going to be there to give you every opportunity to win that game.”
Thomas himself isn’t too interested in analyzing how his game is now. He’d rather just play and not overthink it.
“I don’t really want to spend too much time assessing where I feel that I’m at, because I just want to keep playing and every night show up and try to bring the best game that I can,” Thomas said. “And just keep it simple like that.”
The fact that Thomas is playing well enough to not want to change things up though is a good sign. But ever the perfectionist, Thomas would still like to be even better.
“It’s not bad,” Thomas said of how he’s playing now. “I’d like to be unbeatable, so that’s what I’m shooting for every night. [Saturday] was a great win and I have no problem with it, but I still got scored on three times and next game I’m going to try to not get scored on at all.”
