Boston Bruins: Star Goalie Tim Thomas Returns to Elite Level in Win vs. Rangers

Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas was spectacular in his team's 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, and is starting to heat up at the perfect time.

It was the Bruins' first win against the Blueshirts in four meetings this season, and the two teams won't play again unless they meet in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Thomas, like many of the Bruins, did not play well after the All-Star break in late January, but he has really stepped up his game during Boston's stellar stretch of play over the last few weeks.

The win against the Rangers was huge for Thomas, who coming into the game was 3-11-1 all time against New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

For the Bruins to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, Thomas will have to play at an elite level throughout the playoffs, just as he did last season.

Fortunately for Boston, Thomas is playing fantastic in net at the right time with the playoffs starting on April 11. He's 5-1-1 in his last seven starts and has a stellar .940 save percentage during that time.

Even though an injury to backup goaltender Tuukka Rask hasn't been able to give Thomas much rest since the beginning of March, Thomas doesn't appear tired despite playing in 58 games for the Bruins thus far.

Thomas is feeling fine physically and doesn't really care how Bruins head coach Claude Julien approaches the final games of the season regarding his playing time.

"I haven’t really thought about it one way or the other, that’s how little of an issue it is as far as how I feel physically on the ice," Thomas said after the Bruins' OT loss to Washington last week.

"I can play them all or we can split it up, it doesn’t really matter to me. I’m basically the employee, they tell me to play and I play, that’s the way I approach it."

With the Bruins bringing up young goaltender Anton Khudobin from Providence this week, it's likely that Thomas is going to rest for at maybe two of the three game left for Boston in the regular season.

Julien will certainly give Thomas a bit of a break before the Bruins begin the defense of their Stanley Cup title on April 12.

You can't just flip a switch once the playoffs arrive and break out of your slump. The Bruins needed to turn things around after playing .500 hockey for a few months.

The Bruins are heading into the playoffs with a lot of momentum and a 7-1-1 run, and a major reason for their success has been the play of Thomas.

All quotes obtained firsthand.

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Nicholas Goss is a Boston Bruins Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and was the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals in Boston.