Shawn Thornton Lights The Lamp With Highlight-Reel Goal Against Tim Thomas
BOSTON (CBS) -- While first-line forward Milan Lucic banged away for two gritty goals last night, it was enforcer Shawn Thornton who dazzled with the Bruins' prettiest tally of the night.
The 36-year-old fourth-liner started in his own end, skated the puck through the neutral zone, and chased it into the corner. There, he outworked Florida's Tomas Kopecky and Tom Gilbert to regain possession, and then he dangled around Brian Campbell to the goalmouth.
On his backhand, Thornton lifted the puck over goaltender Tim Thomas' shoulder into the top left corner of the net, and was greeted by a flashing red light. In a 4-2 third period where Florida had scored the game's previous two goals, Thornton's hard work put any notion of a Panthers comeback to rest.
When asked about it after the game Thornton remained humble and laughed off his highlight-reel play.
"The next whistle, we had a shift down there," Thornton said. "[Thomas] said, 'Are you kidding me?' He was actually laughing. He was as surprised as I was, I suppose."
Milan Lucic thought the goal was more impressive than his teammate gave himself credit for.
"It will definitely be a highlight of the night around North America," Lucic said. "I would say for right now, I would put it in the top three or four of goals of the month. It was awesome to see him do what he did there, and I know everyone had a good chuckle because we love seeing him score and get rewarded when he does. It almost seems like when he does score, he gets the pretty ones, and that one was probably his prettiest since he's been here on the Bruins."
It's rare to find an enforcer with soft hands, but it looks like the Bruins have done just that with No. 22.