Boston Bruins: Why Tim Thomas Should Not Even Dress for Saturday's Game

The New York Islanders will either be officially out of the NHL playoff picture or one unfavorable twist away from elimination when the Boston Bruins drop in for a matinee visit this Saturday.

Everybody else left on Boston’s regular-season slate is either bound for a spot in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals or virtually destined to finish at the top of the non-playoff leaderboard.

With the possibility of facing each of those other six teams again, the Bruins will need goaltender Tim Thomas available to help set a tone in at least four or five games. But Thomas will also need to store something up for those virtual tune-ups and the subsequent postseason.

And although every game and every point counts the same, the closest the Bruins have to a meaningless matchup is with the Isles. Accordingly, that should be the day that Thomas leaves his duffel bag on the bus and takes on some physical relaxation by watching the action from the press box.

Depending on the shape of the budding bracket at this time next week, Thomas may warrant another genuine night off versus Ottawa or Buffalo. That is only, of course, if one of those teams has been ruled out as a possible first-round opponent, but if the opportunity arises, the Bruins should take it.

If nothing else though, the goaltending itinerary for this weekend’s two-day business trip to New York should be as follows: Anton Khudobin backing up Marty Turco against the Islanders on Saturday, followed by Thomas returning to wage an arm-wrestling bout with the top-dog Rangers and Henrik Lundqvist on Sunday.

Thomas has not spent a Bruins’ game night out of uniform since a 2-0 home victory over Columbus on Dec. 15, 2007, when Tuukka Rask backed up Alex Auld. That was his last of seven straight missed games due to a lower-body injury.

He has since dressed for 427 consecutive regular-season and playoff contests, seeing action in 290 of them.

This year, in part due to Rask’s injury four weeks ago, the soon-to-be 38-year-old Thomas is bound to take on his biggest workload since playing 66 games in his first full NHL campaign in 2006-07.

With only one more start, likely to come Thursday night versus Washington, he will match his two-time high (in the Claude Julien era) of 57 regular-season outings, which he met in 2007-08 and again in 2010-11.

And this is all on the heels of playing a combined 82 games as part of last year’s run to the Vezina Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy and Stanley Cup. He played all but nine of the Bruins’ 1,551 minutes over 25 playoff games before a brief and busy three-month celebratory summer.

Since returning from that, Thomas has sandwiched a protracted rough patch with a sound first three months and a recent resurgence. But while momentum is currently on his side, the longevity of Boston’s title defense will hinge heavily on how much fuel is left in the one they call “Tank.”

There is only so much that can be done, apart from his own determination and mental toughness, to ensure Thomas’ lasting energy in the 2012 playoffs. But Julien can at least do his part to lend some help, which is always better than nothing, this Saturday by giving him a breather that he has not had in over four years.

The timing is right on every front. Assuming his skating mates fulfill their roles, Turco ought to handle the Islanders as asked. And Khudobin, who is third in the AHL with 1,227 saves and fifth with 2,478 minutes on the year, should get a chance to start phasing himself into The Show by playing the third period.

More to the point, Thomas has earned this breather and can make good use of it by blowing it into his second wind once the calendar morphs to April.