T. PAUL, Minn. - Tim Thomas [ stats ] edged closer to returning from an undisclosed upper-body injury, but rookie Tuukka Rask was again the Bruins [ team stats ] goaltender last night against the Minnesota Wild, making his fifth consecutive start and playing superbly in a 2-1 shootout win.

T. PAUL, Minn. - At first glance, the numbers seem almost unbelievable. The Bruins [ team stats ] ' all-time record against the Minnesota Wild: 1-8-0. The Bruins, a team with a winning record against all but a handful of NHL opponents, have beaten the erstwhile expansion team just once in nine tries.

The planets couldn't have aligned any better for Bruins center Marc Savard , who this week is expected to sign a lucrative long-term extension that could tie him up for seven more years at a cost of about $32 million, according to The Boston Globe.

They've been referred to constantly this season as "the surprising New York Islanders ," but they haven't been a surprise at all to many of the Boston Bruins .

The 2-0 second-period lead? Gone. The 3-2 advantage with less than a minute remaining in regulation? Wiped out, thanks to a Maxim Afinogenov goal at 19:18. But unlike other games in which the woe-is-us Bruins tucked their tails when adversity approached, the Black-and-Gold bunch decided last night against the Atlanta Thrashers that they were fed up ...

Orpik will miss at least two weeks with a lower body injury, but that's better than originally fears.

Boston Bruin cutie Mark Stuart hosting 100 members of the military and their families at the team's Military Appreciation Night .

Judging from the injury news coming from the Penguins yesterday, Thanksgiving week might have extra meaning this year.

Their injured list ? Evgeni Malkin, Max Talbot and Tyler Kennedy up front, with Sergei Gonchar and Brooks Orpik on defense ? probably would start for most NHL teams.

The Bruins have felt for a while now that they've been on the right track to finding their game.

Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik will not return to the game against the Bruins tonight because of an undisclosed injury.

If there is a word to describe the 2009-10 Bruins season, it would be disjointed.

For the one-night Seats for Soldiers event, fans and players donate tickets or buy them at a reduced rate to give soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines a seat at a game on home ice Thursday.

The Bruins' Mark Stuart and the Sabres' Jochen Hecht get punchy in the third period.

Boston's Mark Stuart, left, drops Montreal's Guillaume Latendresse to the ice with a check at center ice in the first period.

"I shouldn't have went,'' said Bruins winger Shawn Thornton moments after last night's 2-1 loss to the Devils.

The Bruins have holes to fill in their lineup, especially up front where this week they lost Milan Lucic and Marc Savard for most, if not all, of next month.

What's next? Zdeno Chara jumping on his bicycle and pedaling off into the sunset? Andrew Ference running off to join some environmental cult? Bodies have been dropping for the Bruins faster than stocks after 9-11, and yet despite that, the team has managed to continue its pattern of alternate losses and wins with a 5-4-1 record after last night's ...

This edition of the the Bruins game preview, we have NHL Examiner Chris Morgan to help out with the home team, Ottawa Senators.

Life without Milan Lucic and Marc Savard won't be easy, but the Bruins left here last night with another point tacked up in the standings, their third point in two nights, adding to their growing sense of resiliency in a season that already has tested their depth, patience, and physical well-being. "You have to stand up and show the coach he can ...