BOSTON – Jose Theodore saw his share of the Boston Bruins when he was with the rival Montreal Canadiens. So he needed no extra motivation Thursday night, even though the defending Stanley Cup champions were the hottest team in hockey and one point ahead of the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference.

“There’s always something that gets you going,” Theodore said after making 40 saves to beat Boston 2-0 and snap Tim Thomas’ winning streak at 10 games. “And when you play against the best, you want to raise your game.”

Tomas Kopecky broke a scoreless tie with 2:32 left, and Theodore notched his second shutout of the season.

“It was just one of these games I was seeing the puck well, and I knew right away that it was going to be tough for them to score goals,” said Theodore. “When I feel like I’m on top of my game, I’m tough to beat. And tonight we just played well, stuck with the game plan, didn’t panic and got away with a win.”

“We did a good job of getting shots and scoring chances, but that’s all they are if you don’t get results,” Bruins forward Milan Lucic said, noting that the Bruins hit the post three times in the first 10 minutes.

Thomas made 28 saves in his first loss since Oct. 27. In the 11 games since, he has allowed 18 goals while posting three shutouts.

It was Boston’s second straight defeat.

• The Bruins signed top draft pick Dougie Hamilton to a three-year contract. The 18-year-old defenseman was the No. 9 overall pick in this year’s draft. He is tied for seventh in the Ontario Hockey League in scoring.

FLYERS 3, PENGUINS 2: Danny Briere, Wayne Simmonds and Scott Hartnell scored to lift Philadelphia to a win at home.

VANCOUVER 4, MONTREAL 3: Cody Hodgson scored the only shootout goal, and Vancouver overcame a three-goal deficit at Montreal.

LIGHTNING 3, RANGERS 2: Dominic Moore scored the tying short-handed goal with 1:57 left in regulation and got the only goal in the shootout to help visiting Tampa Bay snap a five-game losing streak.

PREDATORS 4, BLUE JACKETS 3: Sergei Kostitsyn scored on a deflection with 12.1 seconds left in regulation, and Colin Wilson connected on a one-timer 1:45 into overtime to give Nashville a victory at Columbus.

DEVILS 5, SENATORS 4: Rookie Adam Henrique scored on a backhander in the fourth round of the shootout to give New Jersey a win at home.

RED WINGS 5, COYOTES 2: Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler each had a goal and assist, and Detroit scored five times in the first period against visiting Phoenix.

BLUES 4, DUCKS 2: T.J. Oshie scored twice, defenseman Ian Cole added his first goal of the season and Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves for St. Louis in a win over visiting Anaheim.

BLACKHAWKS 3, ISLANDERS 2: Patrick Sharp scored his second goal of the game 1:34 into overtime to give Chicago a win at Uniondale, N.Y.

NOTES

Martin St. Louis sat out Tampa Bay’s game against the New York Rangers after being hit in the face by a puck during the morning skate, ending his consecutive games streak at 499. … The NHL suspended Colorado Avalanche forward Kevin Porter for four games because of a kneeing infraction, and issued an indefinite ban to Edmonton Oilers defenseman Andy Sutton after his hit Wednesday night on Carolina forward Alexei Ponikarovsky. Also, Buffalo forward Ville Leino was suspended one game for elbowing Philadelphia forward Matt Read.

 

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