--The Bruins have been awaiting the return of both LW Milan Lucic and C Marc Savard and got Lucic back for Thursday's night's 4-3 shootout win at Atlanta. Lucic joined Steve Begin and Byron Bitz on a line.

--G Tuukka Rask, making his second straight start for the second time this season, this time with Tim Thomas injured, played a strong game and raised his record to 4-2-1. He was 3-foor-3 in the shootout, stopping Ilya Kovalchuk to end the game.

--Reports indicate Marc Savard, eligible for free agency at the end of the season, is close to signing a long-term extension.

--The Bruins have won seven straight games against Atlanta, including a 4-0 season sweep last year.

--Despite their recent problems winning games, the Bruins have points in six of their last seven games, going 3-1-3 over that span.

--The Bruins had killed 25 straight opponents' power plays, 39 of the last 40, coming into the game and went 6-for-7 Thursday night. On the other side, the league-worst (coming in) power play had a goal.

--The Bruins are 3-3 in shootouts, 3-4 in games decided in extra time.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"That goal at the end could have been a killer. But our guys decided that we weren't going to allow that to be the winner. Tuukka Rask came up big in the shootout." -- Bruins coach Claude Julien after his team was tied by Atlanta in the final minute but then won in a shootout Thursday night.

Copyright (C) 2009 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.