Hoping for layoff payoff ; Sharper skating the goal after this break

BRUINS

NOTEBOOK

WILMINGTON - The unusual four days between games allowed some ofthe Bruins, such as defensemen Derek Morris and Dennis Wideman, torest their ailing bodies.

"I actually think it's better when you don't get days off," saidMorris, who did not practice Monday and Tuesday, instead givenmaintenance days. "As you get older, you get stiffer, tighter, butobviously your body needs a few days of rest."

Others, meanwhile, were fighting the urge to get too comfortable.

"When you're playing all the time, you're like, `Man, I could usea few days off,' " said goalie Tim Thomas. "After a few days, you'relike, `Let's go play.' The job [for] the team that's had the mostrest is to make the most of it to be ready when they come back."

Tonight's opponents, after all, will be out for vengeance afterbeing embarrassed, 7-2, by the Bruins at TD Garden last Saturdaynight. The Maple Leafs have since responded with a convincing 5-2win over Atlanta Monday night.

The frequency with which the Bruins and Leafs are playing eachother - they will match up again Dec. 19 in Toronto - had some inthe Boston locker room comparing it to a playoff series.

"Obviously in division games, we know how important they are, andyou know you've got to get those points to stay where you're at,"Morris said.

But the most recent long layoffs haven't been so kind. The Bruinshad four days of rest following their 7-2 thrashing of Carolina intheir second game of the season, and followed by getting blasted, 6-1, by Anaheim. Last spring, the Bruins had eight days off betweenplayoff series, and while they got off to a great start in Game 1against Carolina, they weren't effective again until late in theseries, already down, 3-1.

"It's about staying sharp," said coach Claude Julien. "Last year,it wasn't so much how we practiced as much as we let our minds slipa little bit."

Fond memories

From time to time, and when prompted, Thomas enjoys reminiscingabout his days growing up in Michigan.

Thomas will say that he was a Flint Generals fan first andforemost, before even the Red Wings. But when the Leafs come totown, there is somewhat of a sentimental feeling. In his youth,watching "Hockey Night in Canada" broadcasts, the games he often sawwere Detroit-Toronto, fierce rivals during the days of the CampbellConference.

"It was the biggest rivalry I knew of in Detroit, in my educatedyouth, without the Internet or ESPN or all that stuff. Remember[those days]?" he laughed.

Wideman works out

Wideman hasn't skated with the team since the second period ofSaturday night's win, but he took to the ice following practiceyesterday. Wideman, who has an upper-body injury, is consideredquestionable for tonight's game, according to Julien. "I'm notwriting him off. He's doing pretty good today, so we'll see," thecoach said following practice. "It's just one of those injuries thatcan mean one day you see him, next day he's full go." . . . IfWideman can't play, that could bring Matt Hunwick back intotonight's defensive pairings. Hunwick was a healthy scratch Saturdayin favor of Johnny Boychuk, who scored his first NHL goal. Hunwickwas on the ice for nearly an hour after practice, working withassistant coach Doug Houda and strength and conditioning coach JohnWhitesides.