Thomas and Bruins shutout Ottawa 2-0

Tim Thomas turned aside all 29 shots he faced to earn his fourth shutout of the season as the Bruins finished off their 3-game road trip with a 2-0 win over the Ottawa Senators.

After over 43 minutes of scoreless hockey, Patrice Bergeron finally scored the game's first goal 3:19 into the third period, when Bergeron cleaned up Shawn Thornton's rebound.

Marco Sturm gave the Bruins some insurance with 6:53 left in the third period when he found the back of the net after Marc Savard's pass sprung him on a breakaway. Sturm carried the puck in from the right wing wall, cut in front of the net and beat Brian Elliot with a forehand shot for his team-leading 10th goal of the season.

Notes:

- The Bruins were extremely disciplined tonight. They did not take a penalty until 18:31 of the third period when Steve Begin was tagged with a double minor (slashing and roughing) for his part in a little dust up with Alex Kovalev.

- Tim Thomas now has 16 career shutouts (only 88 behind Martin Brodeur).

- I was a little nervous when Johnny Boychuk left the game briefly after blocking a shot in the first period. The Bruins can not afford to lose defensemen right now. Fortunately, he returned the game.

- There were 32 blocked shots in this game (16 by each team).

- Dennis Wideman returned after missing the last 2 games with an undisclosed injury. Wideman logged a game-high 28:55 and was on the ice for both goals.

- Mike Fisher finished the night with 6 hits. I guess he isn't getting enough body contact from his new finance Carrie Underwood.

- With the win, the Bruins jumped ahead of the Senators for second pace in the Northeast Division.

- The Bruins are back in action on Wednesday night when they host the Atlanta Thrashers in a Festivus showdown.