(Sports Network) - Tim Thomas will try to continue his incredible start to the season and earn his third win of the campaign against the Washington Capitals tonight, when the Boston Bruins visit the Verizon Center in D.C.
The Bruins and Capitals met in a home-and-home series from Oct. 19-21 and Thomas won both games for Boston, allowing just one goal in each contest. Overall, Thomas is 12-4-2 with a 2.44 goals-against average and .924 save percentage in 18 career games versus Washington.
Thomas has won all three of his starts since helping complete the sweep of the Caps and is now 7-0-0 with a 0.72 GAA and .977 save percentage this year. The 2008-09 Vezina Trophy winner has set a franchise record for consecutive wins to begin a season, eclipsing Tiny Thompson's mark of six wins in a row to start the 1937-38 campaign.
Thomas earned his seventh win of the year Wednesday night in Buffalo, stopping 33 shots in a 5-2 win over the Sabres. It marked the first time Thomas, who entered the game with back-to-back shutouts, had allowed more than one goal in a game this season.
"It's nice to be 7-0. Today was a tough game," said Thomas. "We're very happy with the way we played in the first period getting two short-handed goals, but after that we took a lot of penalties and kinda cruised through."
Michael Ryder and Brad Marchand each posted a goal and one assist to lead the offensive effort against the Sabres. Blake Wheeler, Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic also tallied for the Bruins, who have won three in a row and seven of eight.
The Bruins have won three straight against the Caps, but Washington still has seven victories in the last 11 meetings between the clubs. Boston has won two in a row in D.C. after dropping its previous five tests in the nation's capital.
Washington enters tonight having won two straight and four of its last five contests. The club has combined to score 12 goals over its last two games and the Caps needed the offensive boost Wednesday against visiting Toronto as Alex Ovechkin scored the winner in the shootout to lead as the Capitals the 5-4 decision.
In the second round, Ovechkin used a wrister to beat Jonas Gustavsson through the five-hole. After Michal Neuvirth made a blocker save on Nikolai Kulemin's wrister, Alexander Semin sealed the win as he blasted a slap shot past Gustavsson.
Semin had a goal and an assist while Tomas Fleischmann, Jason Chimera and Mike Green each lit the lamp for the Capitals. Neuvirth finished the game with 24 saves.
"We had plenty of chances and so did they," said Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau. "We went to the net and that's how you score goals. They fought back and we fought back, it was one of those games."
The Capitals, who are playing the middle test of a three-game homestand tonight, are 5-1-0 as the host this season. Boston has a perfect 5-0-0 mark on the road.