While everyone probably is sick to death of all the Tim Thomas White House talk, there was one final voice that needed to be heard before the book could finally be closed, and that was the voice of the Garden crowd. 

Fans have seemed split on how they've felt about Thomas' controversial decision to blow off the team's meeting with the president last Monday, and it was only natural to wonder whether the people that spent last spring cheering Thomas as he led the Bruins to a Stanley Cup victory would boo the two-time Vezina winner. 

The Garden crowd had its chance to let Thomas hear it prior to the B’s 4-3 win over the Senators, and there wasn't a boo-bird to be heard in the building. Thomas got the loudest ovation (as he usually does) as he was announced with the starters Tuesday night. He admitted after the game that he had prepared for the possibility of boos, but that he appreciated the ovation amidst all the hullabaloo. 

“I was happy to hear the reception from the fans,” Thomas said. “It was just good to hear, and I wanted to get them a win real bad. When we got down there in the second, I didn't know if we'd be able to pull it off, but we found a way again.”

Thomas added that he, “didn’t take it for granted” when the Garden gave him his regular ovation Tuesday. The four-time All-Star obviously knows that he ruffled plenty of feathers by putting his political views ahead of what the team was doing last week, but he and the Bruins are glad that the fans aren’t holding it against Thomas on the ice. 

“Everybody was probably waiting to see what the reaction was going to be, so it was pretty clear that they still respect him for his hockey skills,” Claude Julien said. “They certainly are not holding anything against him for his view on the rest.”

Now, unless Barack Obama had so much fun giving Brad Marchand a nickname that he invites the Bruins back when they’re in the nation’s capital this weekend, consider this case closed.

B’S RETURN FROM THE BREAK 40 MINUTES LATE

The Bruins got two points and expanded their lead in the division over the Senators to six points (with five games in hand), but if you were expecting an emphatic statement game that proved the team’s pre-break struggles were a thing of the past, you had to be disappointed. 

The Bruins allowed three goals for the fourth consecutive game (prior to this recent stretch, their longest such streak was two games), and had another sloppy showing through the first two periods. Patrice Bergeron’s line, the only one that seemed to be getting legitimate opportunities, couldn’t connect on passes, and the uncharacteristically uncoordinated play that plagued the Bruins over their previous seven games (3-3-1) seemed to carry over. 

After a goal from Milan Lucic in the final minute of the second period, the Bruins went to the dressing room trailing by a goal. When they came back for the third, they finally returned from the All-Star break.

The Bruins were back to their old ways, dominating in the third period -- they’ve been the best third-period team in hockey this season, with an outrageous plus-66 goal differential in the final 20 minutes. Brad Marchand tied it 2:20 seconds in, and Dennis Seidenberg embarrassed Craig Anderson by skipping a shot in from center ice. 

“After two periods, I thought it was a real tough game for us,” Julien said. “Obviously I liked our third period. We, for some reason, started moving the puck better, and we started getting pucks past those guys.”

So, what makes the Bruins such a different team in the third period?

“Necessity, recently,” Thomas said. “We're a good team. We know that. We may not always do it for the whole three periods, which is what we want to do, and which we did for a good portion there in November and December, but if you haven't had a real good period in a game yet, then you'll probably have it in the third.”

The win improved the Bruins to 6-8-1 when trailing after two periods, the best mark in the NHL. That isn’t to say the Bruins are going to treat the first 40 minutes against the Hurricanes as free skate Thursday night with the assumption they’ll come back. 

“It’s like playing with fire,” Joe Corvo said. “I don’t know how long we can get behind going into the third and expect to be coming back in these games. So, yeah, it almost feels like we’re waiting for the third to come around. If we can just stay close and play our standard third period then we’ll win the game. But like I said, that type of play doesn’t last very long.”