Aside from the occasional night off – or the even less common instance when a save or goal isn’t deemed worthy – the gang at PHT will decide which tally or stop is the best of any given night. Once those two winners are determined, we’ll share our reasoning (and most importantly, the video clip for each) in posts for your viewing pleasure.
If we decided to hand out a “lifetime achievement award” (or at least a season-long achievement award) for the player whose name shows up the most in our Save of the Night selections, Tim Thomas would be the first to receive such an honor.
It makes sense, though, because Thomas is the best current answer the league can find for Dominik Hasek’s Slinky-spine style. While many other goalies fall upon rigid technique in the heat of the moment, Thomas will occasionally flop around and provide borderline artistic efforts to stop the puck. (That’s not to say he lacks any discernible technique; he’s just ... different.)
Last night’s 7-5 victory didn’t represent the typical Tim Thomas type of win for Boston, but when it comes to facing an elite team like the Philadelphia Flyers, they’ll take what they can get. Thomas still managed a brilliant moment or two, including this impressive stop on All-Star forward Claude Giroux. That stop earned him the January 13th award, which you can view below.
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