Flyers shut out by Bruins

The Boston Bruins didn't exorcise the ghosts of the Playoff Meltdown Heard 'Round the NHL on Wednesday night.

But they at least got some satisfaction.

For that, they can thank their veteran goalie, Tim Thomas.

Thomas made 41 saves as the Bruins blanked the Flyers, 3-0, before a sellout crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.

It was Thomas' league-high fifth shutout in 16 games this season - and the 22d of his career - as Boston won the teams' first meeting since the Bruins blew a three-games-to-none series lead in last season's conference semifinals.

"It's frustrating when you have so many chances and rebounds and two-on-ones, and he's there to make the saves every time," winger Scott Hartnell said.

Rookie goalie Sergei Bobrovsky played well for the Flyers but was upstaged by Thomas, who began the year with a team-record eight-game winning streak - topping the mark of six consecutive wins to start a year, set in 1937.

Thomas' night included a penalty-shot save on Hartnell late in the second period. He later added a sprawling how'd-he-do-that? stop on Claude Giroux's ticketed slot drive early in the final period.

The Flyers, now 4-3-1 when they take at least 40 shots, had better scoring chances than the Bruins, but Thomas had all the answers. The Flyers have a total of three goals in their last three games.

"You have to have traffic," defenseman Chris Pronger said. "You're not going to score in this league very often shooting from the outside. You have to get inside in the dirty areas and get a screen set up, especially against a goalie who is playing very well."

Milan Lucic made it 3-0 with an empty-net goal with 1 minute, 48 seconds left.

It was the third straight defeat for the Flyers, who lost their previous two games in shoot-outs.

Boston has not lost a game in which it had a lead since it lost a 3-0 cushion to the Flyers in Game 7 last season.

"Well, that was a big one to blow," center Danny Briere said with a smile.

About 61/2 months ago, these teams staged one of the wackiest playoff series the NHL has ever witnessed.

Boston became the third team in league history to blow a 3-0 series lead. The Bruins also became the first team to cough up a 3-0 series lead and a 3-0 lead in Game 7 as they fell to the visiting Flyers, 4-3, in the decisive contest of their Eastern Conference semifinals.

"You've got to learn from it," said Boston's Mark Recchi, 42, a former Flyer. "It was disappointing, but you have to grow from it. And that's what we did."

The Bruins, who entered the night on a 1-3-1 skid, took a 1-0 lead on Patrice Bergeron's power-play goal with 14:20 left in the opening period.

Bobrovsky made a nice save on Lucic in front, but defenseman Sean O'Donnell cleared it to Bergeron in the slot. The 25-year-old center fired a shot under Bobrovsky's right arm.

A little less than 10 minutes later, 18-year-old rookie Tyler Seguin took a slick feed from Michael Ryder and finished off a two-on-one to put the Bruins ahead, 2-0. Seguin got behind Hartnell and roofed a shot over Bobrovsky.

Meanwhile, Thomas, who did not face the Flyers in last season's playoffs, continued his amazing early-season domination. He turned aside all 15 first-period shots, and he stopped Briere from point-blank range with the Flyers on a power play early in the second period.

"To be honest, there might be a little bit of luck there, and I kind of knew luck was on my side after that," said Thomas, 36, the NHL leader in goals-against average (1.46) and save percentage (.955).

The Flyers went 0 for 4 on the power play and are 2 for their last 38.

With 2:40 left in the second period, Hartnell skated in alone on Thomas and was pulled down from behind by defenseman Andrew Ference and awarded a penalty shot.

Hartnell's backhander was easily stopped by Thomas, making the Flyers 16 for 42 (38.1 percent) on penalty shots in their history.