Thomas Helps Bruins Sweep Leafs

Bruins 4, Maple Leafs 1

Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, right, makes a save as Toronto Maple Leafs' Alexei Ponikarovsky looks on during second period NHL hockey action in Toronto, Tuesday Nov. 28, 2006. (AP PHOTO/CP, Aaron Harris) (Aaron Harris - AP)

TORONTO -- When the Bruins dealt Andrew Raycroft to Toronto in the offseason, that opened up a place in goal for Tim Thomas. For two games at least, Boston has to like that trade off.

Thomas backstopped last-place Boston to a two-game sweep of Toronto on Tuesday night, as the Bruins beat the Maple Leafs 4-1.

Shean Donovan, Glen Murray, Marco Sturm and Brad Boyes scored for the Bruins, who won 3-1 at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday. Thomas, who made a season-high 45 saves, was solid in that one and steady throughout on Tuesday, when Boston won despite being outshot 46-24.

"We're fighting to get back into the race," said Thomas, whose team entered the weekend last in the Northeast Division. "We had a meeting this morning and Coach said this was the closet thing we've had to a playoff game. To get to the playoffs we have to beat teams like the Maple Leafs. He basically challenged us."

Murray scored the game-winner at 5:35 of the third, Sturm added an insurance goal at 17:07 and Boyes scored an empty-netter at 19:36.

The Bruins entered the series 10 points behind second-place Toronto _ but now trail the Maple Leafs by six.

"We're trying to climb the standings," Murray said. "Every win is huge for us. We got behind the 8-ball early in the season."

Thomas credited his defense for clearing rebounds and allowing him to see the shots.

"The Leafs wanted to redeem themselves so they were throwing everything at the net," he said.

Nik Antropov scored for the Leafs, who lost their second straight with captain Mats Sundin back in the lineup. Sundin missed three weeks with an elbow injury.

Top defenseman Bryan McCabe left in the third period with a sprained left ankle, but is not expected to be out for long.

"We had a much better night than Saturday night, but we've got to put the puck in the net on power-play opportunities," said Toronto coach Paul Maurice, whose team went 0-for-6 with the man advantage.