(SportsNetwork. [url=http://www.nhlflyersproauthentic.com/oskar-lindblom-hockey-jersey/] Oskar Lindblom Jersey[/url] .com) - Tuukka Rask had a first-hand look at how important Tim Thomas was to the Boston Bruins franchise. Rask and the Bruins will face their former teammate on Thursday night, when Tho

(SportsNetwork. Oskar Lindblom Jersey .com) - Tuukka Rask had a first-hand look at how important Tim Thomas was to the Boston Bruins franchise. Rask and the Bruins will face their former teammate on Thursday night, when Thomas is expected to start for the Florida Panthers against visiting Boston. Thomas, a former ninth-round pick by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1994 draft, signed as a free agent with the Bruins in 2002 and made his NHL debut with the club that season, appearing in four games. He eventually became the No. 1 goaltender with the Bruins and went 196-121-45 in 378 regular-season games with the club. The 39-year-old also posted a postseason record of 29-21 in 50 games with the Bruins, logging a 2.07 goals against average and .933 save percentage. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2011 after helping lead Boston to its first Stanley Cup title since 1972. Thomas, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner, played one more season with the Bruins before sitting out the lockout-shortened campaign. He became a free agent this past offseason and appeared in training camp with the Panthers on a professional tryout before signing a one-year deal just before the start of the season. Thomas has made three appearances with the Panthers, allowing nine goals on 60 shots faced. However, he has not played since exiting last Tuesdays game versus Philadelphia early with a groin injury. He is expected to play tonight, per Floridas official twitter account. "All those years shooting on him in practice and what not, I think itll be fun to finally shoot on him in a game and Im sure hes looking forward to it as well," said Bostons Milan Lucic. "Im sure hes happy to be back in the NHL playing and hes found a new home here in Florida." Thomas year off allowed Rask to grab hold of Bostons starting goaltender job after he spent the majority of his career backing up the former since being acquired from Toronto on June 24, 2006. Rask went 19-10-5 with a 9.29 GAA in 36 games last season, helping the Bruins get to the Stanley Cup Finals. "I never thought that we would play against each other. But Im glad that he made his comeback and proved people wrong again, and I hope he does well," said the 26-year-old Rask, who is 7-1-0 with a 0.86 GAA, .972 save percentage and three shutouts lifetime versus the Panthers. Boston will play three straight on the road after opening the season with four of five at home and lost for the second time in its past three games with Mondays 3-2 setback to Detroit. Loui Eriksson and Milan Lucic tallied for the Bruins, while Rask made 24 saves. "Were really struggling with our finish right now. The chances are there but goals are not coming easy," noted Bruins head coach Claude Julien. The Panthers, meanwhile, begin a six-game homestand and have lost five of seven to begin the season. They were last in action on Tuesday, a 4-3 setback to Nashville. Jonathan Huberdeau, Marcel Goc and Matt Gilroy netted goals in the loss, while Jacob Markstrom surrendered all four goals on 30 shots. "We did some good things tonight with our forecheck and creating turnovers," said Huberdeau. "We can look to build on that for our next game and get some of our mistakes straightened out." The Bruins won all three of their meetings with the Panthers a season ago, outscoring them 11-2. They have won nine of the last 11 encounters overall and six of the past seven in Florida. Philadelphia Flyers Jerseys . -- Arizona came out of its last meeting with California a bit discombobulated, hurting from its first loss and the loss of forward Brandon Ashley for the rest of the season. Bernie Parent Flyers Jersey . -- Novak Djokovic benefited from an erroneous call and claimed he didnt realize he had broken the rules. http://www.nhlflyersproauthentic.com/michael-raffl-hockey-jersey/ . Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.South Bend, IN (SportsNetwork.com) - Jerian Grant scored 23 points and handed out eight assists to help No. 12 Notre Dame shake off a slow start and top Miami, 75-70, on Saturday. The Fighting Irish (17-2, 5-1 ACC) trailed by as many as 12 in the second half but had enough time to recover and shoot their way out of their hole. V.J. Beachem added 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting from 3-point range and Pat Connaughton contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Hurricanes (12-5, 2-2) were led by Sheldon McClellans 17 points and JaQuan Newton chipped in 16. Tonye Jekiri scored eight with a game-high 13 rebounds, but star Angel Rodriguez had just four points on 1-of-10 shooting. Notre Dame came into the game leading the nation in field-goal percentage at 53.0, but made only two of its first 16 attempts from long distance. After Miami got back-to-back 3s from Davon Reed and McClellan to go up 43-31, the Irish broke out of their slump. We were down against Georgia Tech and were down against these guys, said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey. Theres really not panic or worry or discouragement. They really have a strong belief that they will find a way to win. Demetrius Jackson connected from beyond the arc on Notre Dames next possession, and the Irish got triples on their next three trips down the floor to cut Miamis lead to five points. They shot 7-of-15 from 3-point range in the second half. The Irish soon went on a 7-0 run that tied the game for the first time since it was 5-5 early in the first half. Connaughton missed the 3, but Jackson crashed the boards and hit the follow-up basket to even the score at 50. On their next possession, GGrant passed to Steve Vasturia from the floor and Vasturias running layup gave Notre Dame its first lead of the game. Bernie Parent Jersey. We just never responded to the second-half run they had with the threes and the twos, said McClellan. At one point it felt like they couldnt miss. After some back-and-forth play, the Irish took the lead for good on Grants triple with less than 6 1/2 minutes to go. James Palmer responded with a jumper to cut Notre Dames lead to one, but the Hurricanes would only hit three more shots from the floor the rest of the game, including McClellans dunk as time expired. Miami never trailed in an uncharacteristic first half for Notre Dame. Averaging the fourth-fewest turnovers per game in the country with 9.2, the Irish committed two in the first minute and five in the first 7 1/2 minutes. They shot just 40.7 percent from the field in the first half. The Hurricanes still only led by one at the break. After Palmers 3 with 7 1/2 minutes to play in the half put Miami up eight, Notre Dame scored on four straight possessions and would go into the break trailing 30-29. Game Notes Notre Dame now leads the all-time series, 9-8 ... Notre Dames Zach Auguste returned after a one-game absence due to a reported academic issue and scored four points in nine minutes ... Miamis Ivan Cruz Uceda scored two points in his Hurricanes debut after sitting out the first half of the season with a suspension issued by the NCAA ... The Hurricanes fell to 10-1 when leading at halftime ... Notre Dame inducted Tom Hawkins, the schools all-time leading rebounder, into its Ring of Honor. ' ' '