For the time being, struggling Vezina winner Tim Thomas will end his long national bench warming nightmare. Constant typo threat Tuukka Rask (it might be worth the cost of a plane ticket to Boston just to hear his name pronounced in those parts) started the last seven games before going down with a knee injury.
Reports indicate that Rask’s injury will be “day-to-day” which could mean just about anything. This is a golden opportunity for Thomas to regain the No. 1 status that Rask wrestled away from him briefly. If they could choose, the Bruins would prefer to bring the Finnish goalie along slowly while Thomas regains his form - something that Rask seemed to acknowledge a month ago.
“He’s the No. 1,’' Rask said. “If you don’t play the No. 1, you get to thinking and it gets in your head. You really don’t want that for your No. 1 goalie. We want to be there for Timmy and we want to help him to get the points he deserves.’'
You never know, the duo (and Boston) may really benefit from a friendly rivalry.