Bruins coach Claude Julien goes through this little song and dance before he names his starting goaltender.

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Bruins goalie Tim Thomas stops Senators centre Mike Fisher in shootout to clinch the win for Boston.

Photograph by : Adam Hunger, Reuters

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He's not unlike any number of other NHL coaches who fear the premature naming of his starting goalie will trigger all-afternoon video sessions in the opposition's dressing room.

Where that would leave the traditional NHL afternoon nap is another question, but coaches have their superstitions.

In Julien's case, he doesn't even tell his goalies if they're starting after the morning skate -- at least he says he doesn't. He doesn't tell them until later.

So, on Saturday morning, when the question was whether Tim Thomas would return after being out for six games with an undisclosed upper-body injury, Julien wasn't offering even an hint. When asked about Thomas, he said this:

"Yeah, he has been getting better and raring to get in there and I think that is exciting for anyone who has been injured and hasn't played in a while."

"So hopefully he will be ready to go (Saturday night)," Julien said. "I told both goaltenders to be ready ... and I will make my decision a little bit later."

Not even Thomas would offer a clue, saying Julien had this little tradition going and they'd stick with it.

Not that anyone was surprised to see Thomas.

Putting aside that he's the Bruins' No. 1 goalie and also won the Vezina Trophy last year, he's owned the Senators.

In 20 career games against Ottawa before Saturday, he was 13-5-2 with a 2.12 goals-against average and a .934 save percentage

Guess what?

He did it again, just barely, but he did it. And, once again, he did it in a shootout.

The storyline was slightly different than the Oct. 24 game in Ottawa, when the Senators lost a 3-1 lead in the final 90 seconds and then lost to Thomas 4-3 in a shootout.

This time, the Senators raced to a 2-0 first-period lead, lost it when they Bruins scored three unanswered power-play goals, but tied it with 19.3 seconds left when Milan Michalek scored his second goal of the night.

Thomas was furious with himself with that goal, an uncharacteristically soft one. But he redeemed himself in the shootout when he stopped four Ottawa shooters and Michael Ryder won it after also scoring in regulation.

"It was a huge letdown for the team," said Thomas. "I didn't just let the team down. I let myself down.

"But then to be able to salvage and at least leave there on a positive feeling, it's all you can ask for.

"If you're going to let a bad goal in with 10 seconds left, if you can win the shootout, that's the best you can ask for."

Even extending his mastery over the Senators was no blessing, he said.

"I don't care who it was," he said. "I wasn't blessed with 10 seconds or whatever left."

David Krejci and defenceman Dennis Wideman, with just his second goal of the year, scored Boston's other goals in regulation time.

Daniel Alfredsson had Ottawa's other goal in regulation.

Brian Elliott faced 32 Boston shots, while Thomas faced 21.

Senators coach Cory Clouston said it was some consolation that the Senators escaped with a point. But that can't mask that they didn't play well, at all.