Thomas and Rask deflect some shots from outside

BRUINS

NOTEBOOK

TORONTO - Tim Thomas made two starts last night, opening upagainst the Leafs in what turned into a 5-2 loss. He was given thehook midway through the second after giving up two quick goals andfalling to a 4-1 deficit, then resumed his post for the start of thethird period.

The two starts only added up to one loss, but they also triggereda slight controversy, with commentators on the CBC telecast inCanada suggesting Thomas returned because Tuukka Rask, his reliefman in the second, chewed out his teammates when he was screened onKeith Aulie's shot that made it 5-1 with 2:37 left in the second.

"No, no," Rask said when asked if he was hard on his teammatesand if that led to getting pulled after the second period. "Younever want to give up goals, right? On that [shot], the defense[Dennis Seidenberg] screened me, I never got to see it."

Asked if being upset led to him being pulled, Rask said, "I don'tthink so . . . you'll have to ask [coach Claude Julien]."

Julien labeled the assertion "ridiculous" and countered that hewanted Thomas, who sat out the previous two games, to get some workin the third. Julien had hoped for a better effort, and a couple ofgoals, with the move to Rask. Neither the effort nor the goalsmaterialized.

For his part, Thomas said he and Julien talked after the secondperiod and the veteran stopper was emphatic he wanted to get back inthere. By Thomas's telling, his return was a reasoned move by thecoach - to get him work - and not a reaction to anything Raskmight have said.

"You change goaltenders because you are trying to changemomentum, and that didn't necessarily happen," Thomas said.

Regarding his second-period chat with Julien, Thomas added, "Iwanted to go back in, you know, get back, battle through it, that'swhat I wanted to do. Basically, that's what happened."

An old Leaf

Tomas Kaberle, obtained from the Leafs in a Feb. 18 deal, said hehad mixed feelings headed into last night's game. Understandable.The defenseman, who turned 33 March 2, began his NHL career here inthe 1998-99 season and was a fixture on the Leafs blue line untilthe day of the swap.

Kaberle is a disappointing 0-3 -3 in his 13 games in Black andGold. He was minus-1 in 20:08 of ice time last night. Fellow newbiesChris Kelly (13 games, 0-2 -2) and Rich Peverley (12 games, 2-2 -4)weren't much better. Combined, that's 2-7 -9 in 38 games,considerably less than what the Bruins hoped for when they wheeledand dealed.

Kaberle, noted coach Claude Julien, "sees the ice well, moves thepuck well, and he's poised. We're going to work with him and helphim adapt to certain things we are trying to do."

But for all the "nice fit" Kaberle brought, the power play hasbeen abysmal, connecting only once in 29 tries after an 0 for 2 lastnight.

"Hopefully, our killer instinct will kick in," said Julien,noting that the forwards weren't providing the requisite grit aroundthe net and perhaps had grown too reliant on feeding the puck to thepoint men. "Hopefully, the power play will get even better."

Rough return

A rough return to the lineup for Andrew Ference, back for thefirst time since Feb. 26. The oft-injured blue liner finished minus-3 in only 14:17 of ice time . . . Coupled with the 1-3-3 record inthe last seven games, it's the kind of stretch that would have hadex-GM Harry Sinden breathing fire in the room after last night'sloss and likely wiping out the coaching staff today. Internet chatrooms have been calling for Julien's neck the last two weeks, butthat's been a drumbeat throughout his tenure whenever the Bruinshave been in a rough stretch . . . Brad Marchand served the backhalf of his two-game suspension for his hit Tuesday night on BlueJacket R.J. Umberger . . . Senior statesman Mark Recchi believes theclub has been guilty lately of "over backchecking." In his eyes,that's why there were so many poor goals allowed against the Leafs."We can correct it," he said. "We've watched tape of it, but forsome reason, we're still doing it." When asked what's wrong with histeam, captain Zdeno Chara said, "Not our best effort, for sure. Wehave to be mentally more sharp, more in the game and ready to play.". . . Nathan Horton got into a dust-up with Dion Phaneuf, one theLeafs captain had no interest in taking on with 8:15 remaining. Phaneuf refused to take off his lid, despite Horton tossing his tothe ice to initiate the battle. Phaneuf then gave the Boston rightwinger a number of healthy pops. Like most of the night for theBruins, pointless . . . The Bruins attempted 83 shots, but landedonly 37 on James Reimer. The Leafs cranked 60 shots, landed 29 . . .Michael Ryder, who had seven shots on net in Nashville, landed onlyone of his five attempts. Tyler Seguin and Adam McQuaid each landedfive for the Bruins, one of McQuaid's good for his second goal thisseason. Reimer stoned Seguin on a breakaway, taking away the leftpost when Seguin attempted to slide in a backhander.

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