Thomas, Enroth get starts for Bruins/Sabres

By Joe Haggerty
CSNNE.com

BUFFALO, NY – Diminutive Buffalo youngster Jhonas Enroth and Tim Thomas led their hockey teams onto the ice for pre-game warmups, and will get the starts for the Sabres and Bruins respectively.

The Thomas start was a no-brainer given the way he’s played recently, but it appears the decision to start Enroth wasn’t made until this afternoon after Patrick Lalime had exited the HSBC Arena ice during morning skate.

Lalime is a not-too-exciting 0-2 with a 4.04 goals against average and .871 save percentage in a pair of games with Ryan Miller battling through a lower-body injury, and Thomas is chasing history with the best start by an NHL goalie since the league expanded in 1967-68.

The 22-year-old Enroth, a Sweden native, is 4-2 with a 3.51 goals against average and .891 save percentage for the AHL’s Portland Pirates, and made 33 saves in a loss to the Bruins last season during a spot start.

*No line changes for Bruins after Claude Julien switched Blake Wheeler/Mark Recchi last weekend against the Ottawa Senators. Liked what I saw of the Jordan Caron/Patrice Bergeron/Mark Recchi trio in the latter two periods of the game against the Senators, and look forward to seeing a full game with them together.