NEWARK, N.J. - Bruins coach Claude Julien enjoys making tough decisions involving the most delicate situation on his hockey club.
Goalie Tim Thomas placed Julien in that predicament after his second straight stellar performance between the pipes. Thomas recorded 31 saves under trying circumstances during Saturday night's 4-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center.
The Bruins broke from training camp with the intention of having Tuukka Rask hold down the top spot, with Thomas, the 2009 Vezina Trophy winner, relegated to the role of backup.
Thomas threw ice water on those plans by recording 29 saves in the Bruins' 3-0 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Oct. 10 in Prague. He complemented that effort with a near-shutout against the Devils.
Thomas hasn't removed Rask from the formula. The Bruins play three games over five days, beginning with a home-and-home encounter with Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals tomorrow night in Washington.
''He is just making our decision tougher as we go along,'' Julien said following Saturday's victory.
''We have to consider two things: We have to consider the goalie that is playing well and another good goalie who can't sit forever either. We have three games coming up so I'm sure we will see both of them.''
Thomas withstood the full fury of the desperate Devils in the first period. The Bruins showed signs of rust after a five-day layoff following their European sojourn to Northern Ireland and the Czech Republic.
The Devils battered Thomas from all angles in the opening 10 minutes of the first period. Thomas enjoyed his finest moments while the Bruins were killing a 5-on-3 situation in the final two minutes of the first period to preserve a scoreless tie.
''That could have been a turning point right there,'' said Julien. ''That second call was a tough one on (Brad) Marchand, but you have to kill those off and I thought our guys did a real good job.
''We had a couple of guys who can shoot the puck from the back end and we wanted to make sure we took away those opportunities. Tim made the big saves when we needed them and our guys did a good job killing that. It seemed to give us some momentum heading into the second period.''
The Devils broke the deadlock at 3:45 of the second when Dainius Zubrus poked home a rebound from a scrum in the slot. The Bruins responded with four even-strength tallies from four different lines to take a three-goal lead.
''When we started to take the lead in the second, it takes a lot of the pressure off of a goaltender,'' said Thomas. ''It is good to have the lead and obviously it put us in the spot we needed to be in.''
Thomas, 36, is the goalie of the moment, but Rask represents the Bruins' future at the position. Rask was on the business end of a 5-2 pummeling by the Coyotes on Oct. 9, which prompted Julien to make the switch.
Rask, 23, won the position in the second half of last season.
''Tuukka has really come along,'' said Julien. ''I thought he did a great job growing and maturing and he came in here last year with no expectations, just to be backup to a Vezina Trophy winner.''
- rthompson@bostonherald.com
