It was questionable whether Thornton was Captain Hook

BOSTON — The power of the purse kept Bruins winger Shawn Thornton, one of the few players on the roster making just six figures per season, from commenting on the hooking call that was whistled against him 4:41 into the second period tonight.

“I mean, you guys saw from upstairs. I can’t say anything obviously, but you tell me what you saw,” said Thornton after the Bruins dropped a 3-1 decision to Minnesota, which took advantage of the questionable call to score a goal en route to the victory.

Replays seemed to show Burns hit the ice well after Thornton made contact with the veteran defenseman. If a call had to be made, there could’ve also been a diving call. However, only Thornton went to the TD Garden penalty box. Just four seconds of play later, Martin Havlat gave the Wild their first lead of the night.

Bruins head coach Claude Julien was irate after the call and after the goal.

“Was there an explanation? No, he just told me that I made my point and that’s … because the other referee was still telling me that he thought he made the right call so obviously we’re disagreeing, that’s all,” said the coach.

“[I was upset] because it wasn’t a penalty, it wasn’t a penalty. Yep. That’s a bad call,” the coach concluded.

All the arguing in the world would’ve done little good for Julien’s club. Boston wound up tying the game but then falling behind in the third period on after a Marc Savard miscue.

The Wild took advantage of one of their two power plays, while the Bruins failed on all four of their chances.