Boston Bruins Shut Out Toronto Maple Leafs
BOSTON (AP) -- Tim Thomas remained unbeaten this season, stopping 20 shots to earn his second shutout and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0 on Thursday night.
Rookie Tyler Seguin scored his first goal in front of the Boston crowd, and Patrice Bergeron scored his first of the season for the Bruins. Thomas improved to 5-0 with a 0.60 goals-against average; Tuukka Rask was in goal for the Bruins' only two losses.
Jonas Gustavsson stopped 30 shots for the Maple Leafs.
Seguin was selected second overall in the NHL draft with a pick the Bruins acquired from Toronto for Phil Kessel, who has not scored in seven games against his former team.
Kessel was booed virtually every time he touched the puck. And when Seguin scored, with Kessel on the ice, the sellout crowd broke into a spirited chant of "Thank you, Kessel!"
The chant was repeated when Seguin broke free on Gustavsson with 7 minutes left in the third but missed when he was slashed from behind. Fans wanted a penalty shot, but they soon returned to mocking Kessel, a talented goal-scorer who was criticized in Boston for not being tough enough.
Kessel had told management he wanted to play elsewhere, and the Bruins obliged by trading him to Toronto for two first-round draft picks and a second-rounder. That helped Boston land Seguin, and no one in the crowd misses Kessel.
Kessel, who was third in the NHL with seven goals, has just one assist in seven games against Boston since being traded away in 2009. Since then, Toronto has lost four straight games in Boston.
Seguin topped that when he slapped home a pass from Dennis Seidenberg with 41 seconds left in the first period. The Bruins made it 2-0 in the second period when Zdeno Chara slid a pass along the blue line to Bergeron, who one-timed it into the net for the 100th goal of his career.
The Bruins have allowed 11 goals in seven games - the fewest in the league.
NOTES: The Bruins honored former captain, coach and GM Milt Schmidt before the game. Schmidt received miniature replicas of the two Stanley Cups he won as a player, then told the crowd: "The spoked 'B' is practically my family crest. And I wouldn't have it any other way." ... The last Bruin to open a season with four wins was Doug Keans in 1987-88. ... The Bruins said that Johnny Boychuk, who broke his left arm last game, would miss a month. Toronto center Colby Armstrong is out for four to six weeks and will require finger surgery.
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