Bruins Sweep the Five-Game Season Series With Panthers and Win Their Fourth Straight Game

It's been a very good week for the Bruins (42-30-6) as they inched closer to their first playoff spot in three years by beating the Panthers (33-34-11) 5-2 this afternoon at TD Garden for their fourth win in a row. PS that might have been the most misleading three-goal win in recent NHL history. Boston improved to 9-2-0 in afternoon games this season as the Garden crowd bid farewell to former Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton (playing in his final NHL season) who still lives in Charlestown in the summer. Tuukka Rask (24 saves in his 36th win of the season) has allowed three total goals in the last three games, stopping 75 out of 78 shots. Haha does anybody still think that backup goaltender Anton Khudobin should start over him?

Rookie Noel Acciari scored another big goal for the B's as he opened the proceedings late in the first period. He blocked a shot then went in on a breakaway-while fighting off Panthers defenseman Jakub Kindl-and beat the immortal Reto Berra (24 saves) for his second goal of the season. The second period had way more excitement as both teams potted a pair of goals. Thomas Vanek was the beneficiary of a puck that bounced in off of David Krejci's skate at 1:38. Patrice Bergeron put Boston back ahead with a shot off a rebound from Zdeno Chara and David Pastrnak at 7:56. Forget Tom Brady (never!), the real ageless wonder Jaromir Jagr knotted things at two with a power play goal at 9:53. Milton native Keith Yandle and Jonathan Marchessault assisted on Jagr's 16th goal of the season and only the 765th of his incredible NHL career. Krejci and the B's received a lucky bounce to retake the lead as Berra cleared the puck right to him along the boards so he could fire it in for his 23rd goal of the season at 14:30.

Florida has nothing to play for but pride (and jobs) at this point but give them credit for competing all game long (well except for much of the 1st period). In fact, they outshot Boston 13-5 in the third and really dominated puck possession and zone time but they couldn't find a way to put another shot past Rask. Vanek was called for a late high-sticking penalty and that's when the Black and Gold put it in the win column. Brad Marchand roofed a rebound on the doorstep (his 39th goal of the season) from Ryan Spooner and Pastrnak at 18:16 for a 4-2 advantage. Bergeron added an empty-netter with 12 seconds left in regulation for his 20th goal of the campaign (the 8th time he's done that in his storied Bruins career).

The Bruins head to Chicago tonight to face the Blackhawks (50-21-7) tomorrow afternoon (12:30, NBC). It's a foregone conclusion that Chicago will be the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs and a win vs. Boston would officially clinch that. Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy reiterated what he had said on Friday: Khudobin will get the start vs. Blackhawks. Also, not that anyone would notice but Jimmy Hayes suffered a lower-body injury in today's contest so he was deemed day-to-day and it sounds like some unnamed forward from Providence will be called up to replace him. It's the last road game of the regular season for the B's as they wrap up 2016-17 with three more on home ice next week (vs. Tampa Bay, Ottawa and Washington).

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David Pastrnak is Here to Save Us All from Another Season of Bruins Mediocrity

All night at TD Garden, the Bruins (15-10-1) couldn't shake the Panthers (12-11-3). Three different times Boston scored to take a temporary one-goal lead but each time Florida answered with a tying goal. Luckily for the B's and their fans, they employ David Pastrnak who you may have heard has morphed into one of the best goal-scorers in the NHL (see: his overtime goal that gave Boston a thrilling 4-3 win). Pasta had scored earlier in the contest to make it 2-1 and he potted the game-winner at 1:23 of overtime that will undoubtedly be in every highlight reel for awhile (not just hockey).

It was a big two points for the Bruins since the Panthers entered in a bit of a tailspin (after surprisingly firing head coach Gerard Gallant last weekend and replacing him with GM Tom Rowe). Moreover, with Roberto Luongo (9-8-1) in between the pipes for Florida, Boston had to take advantage of the same bozo from the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals vs. Vancouver. In 38 career games against the Bruins, Luongo fell to 15-17-1. Florida won the Atlantic Division last season but Boston still owns them (10-1-0 in their last 11 games in Boston and 15-2-1 in their last 18 games overall) dating back several years now.

After missing six games with a lower-body injury Bruins captain Zdeno Chara returned with a team-high 23:31 time on ice. There was plenty of action in the first period even though it looked like it would end 0-0. Former BC star Michael Matheson had a shorthanded bid stopped by Tuukka Rask (27 saves; 14-4-1). On the other end, Luongo robbed Ryan Spooner (the subject of trade rumors since he hasn't played well so far this season) with a ridiculous glove save. David Backes' one-timer from the doorstep hit Luongo in the chest and rookie Anton Blidh nearly nabbed his first NHL goal when he redirected Adam McQuaid's slap pass just wide. PC's Tim Schaller gave the B's a 1-0 lead at 18:32 (with his 4th goal of the season) when he one-timed a pass from David Krejci (who was stationed behind Florida's net).

The ageless wonder Jaromir Jagr tied it at 9:44 with a one-timer of his own. Florida's great young franchise defenseman Aaron Ekblad fed it to Jagr for his fifth goal of the season (and 754th all-time, 3rd most in NHL history). Pastrnak helped Boston regain a 2-1 lead at 16:37 with help from a slick feed by linemate Brad Marchand. Patrice Bergeron had the other assist on Pastrnak's 14th goal of the season (3rd most in the NHL). It was only a one-goal advantage but the team records were in Boston's favor after two periods: they were 11-0-0 when leading after two and Florida was 1-7-2 when trailing after two.

Obviously, that one-sided sample will change for the B's at some point and it appeared to be this evening as Alexander Barkov tied it at 7:54 of the third period. Patrice Bergeron turned the puck over in his own zone (something which hardly ever happens) and former teammate Reilly Smith was there to pass it to Barkov for an absolute snipe on Rask. Boston responded a little over five minutes later as Backes tipped in Spooner's shot from the half-wall for his seventh goal of the season. Luongo had just reached his bench when Jason Demers scored one last tally that knotted things at three. Matheson and Vincent Trocheck assisted on Demers' fourth goal of the season which came at 18:31 after a fortuitous bounce off the end boards came right to him and he was able to sneak it by Rask from a tough angle.

Pastrnak's goal in overtime as mentioned above was pure filth, some fine Bruins porn if you will. Krejci held the puck and waited for his fellow Czech to go out of the zone then come back in with speed so when he got the puck he was able to work it around Matheson and then Luongo who went down to the ice a bit early. Pastrnak was able to lift the puck with a forehand shot over Luongo as the Garden crowd exploded. Rookie Brandon Carlo had the second assist on Pastrnak's unforgettable strike (which tied his total goal output from last season).

This was the start of another busy week as Boston is at Washington (14-7-3) on Wednesday (8, NBC Sports) before they host Colorado (9-13-1) on Thursday (7, NESN) and Toronto (10-9-5) on Saturday night (7, NESN). The Capitals are still one of the top teams in the NHL and they always seem to give Boston a tough game, no surprise. The Bruins have won three games in a row and they extended their season-long point streak to five games (4-0-1). The Avalanche are currently in last-place in the Western Conference and the Maple Leafs as always are near the bottom in the East so those are two prime matchups for the B's to continue to bolster their home record (7-5-0). So far, this edition of the Bruins is playing moderately better on home ice, one of their main shortcomings that bit them in the ass last season.

Left wing Matt Beleskey is expected to miss the next six weeks after he hurt his right knee in Saturday's 2-1 win at Buffalo. He had gotten off to a crappy start (2 goals, 3 assists in 24 games) but Boston has very little depth at that particular position so it could be a sneaky important loss for the Black and Gold.

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Bruins Close Out Perfect Homestand (4-0) with 5th Straight Win, 4-2 vs. Devils

Not that I was too worried about it but the Bruins are officially themselves again. Boston (10-6-0) dispatched New Jersey (6-7-2) 4-2 at TD Garden on Monday for their fifth straight win. The Bruins closed out their four-game homestand (4-0) with a much tougher schedule on the horizon namely a back-to-back in Toronto on Wednesday (8, NBCSN) and in Montreal on Thursday (7:30, NESN).

Ironically enough, the B's improved to 6-1 since Zdeno Chara went down with an injury-an indication of their weak opponents along with them finding their proverbial groove at the same time. The Devils scored the fastest goal vs. the Bruins this season as Travis Zajac finished a pass from Mike Cammalleri 1:26 into the contest after a turnover by Dougie Hamilton. It was the fifth time in the last six games that the Bruins have allowed the first goal not that it's seemed to matter at all.

In the eight games this season where Boston has allowed the first goal, they have tied it at one in seven of them including this evening. Carl Soderberg scored a power-play goal at 10:21 as he tipped in Reilly Smith's pass with the second assist to Patrice Bergeron (4-game point streak). Soderberg's fifth goal of the season tied him with Brad Marchand for the team lead.

A sloppy turnover by the Devils gave the Bruins a gift-wrapped 2-1 advantage at 17:16. Bergeron was there to slam in his third goal of the season by former BC star and Marblehead native Cory Schneider (19 saves). Former Bruins great Jaromir Jagr did something he rarely did in Boston two seasons ago-score a pretty goal or any goals for that matter. His turnaround shot beat Tuukka Rask (26 saves) low and to the far side at 13:00 of the second period for Jagr's third goal of the season and 708th all-time (tying him with Mike Gartner for 6th in NHL history).

Boston put it away with a quick pair of goals late in the second period (1:20 apart, their 9th and 10th of the season in the final two minutes of a frame). Rookie Seth Griffith scored unquestionably the prettiest goal of the season (his fourth of the season) for the B's and one of the best in the NHL. Words don't really do it justice but he had his back to Schneider but he managed to hit a shot between his legs which went through Schneider's pads. Incredible and just a taste of what Griffith can do at the ripe old age of 21. Other than Tyler Seguin (and I'm not saying he could be Seguin), when is the last time Boston had a forward with those type of eye-popping skills? Like Bergeron, his tally was unassisted.

Smith added the final strike at 19:21 as he one-timed a pass from Bergeron (3 points) by Schneider. New Jersey outshot Boston 14-3 in the third period but that was somewhat misleading since they didn't translate to many real scoring opportunities.

The Maple Leafs (8-5-2) have won their last two games but the Bruins typically own them. Conversely, the Canadiens (10-4-1) have won their last two after a poor stretch but they dominate Boston particularly at the Bell Centre. I would expect Niklas Svedberg to make his first start in November on Wednesday before Rask returns to the net on Thursday in Montreal where he has been terrible.

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Wrapping Up A Wonderful Season For The Bruins

The Bruins had their final interviews this afternoon at TD Garden as they packed their stuff and headed out for a shortened summer vacation. The most interesting part of this day is all the hidden injuries that are revealed to the media: the showstopper was from Patrice Bergeron who on top of all his other serious maladies suffered a punctured lung after Game 6 and was in the hospital until tonight. Zdeno Chara (hip flexor), Dennis Seidenberg (hamstring) and Jaromir Jagr (head and back) were the other key players with major injuries. Nathan Horton is set for surgery on his shoulder this offseason.

Boston GM Peter Chiarelli actually admitted that he told defenseman Andrew Ference and Jagr (free agents to be) that they won't be back in the Hub next season. You knew that Jagr was just a rental when they obtained him at the trade deadline and with Torey Krug, Matt Bartkowski and Dougie Hamilton all pushing for minutes, Ference's time was up. Still, it is a real shame to say goodbye to the pro athlete in Boston that has embraced the city more than any other currently here. Of course that doesn't mean much if he can't play but Ference is everything you'd want in a veteran leader: tough, smart, great with the media and steps his game up when it matters the most. He played with the Bruins for seven years and won a Cup in 2011 as well as reaching the Stanley Cup Final this season. I will always be a Ference fan.

Signing Horton is a priority and obviously Bergeron is going to get a long-term extension to hopefully keep him with the Bruins for his entire career. Finally, Boston's main goal in the next few weeks is to sign Rask to a huge deal. He earned it with a great playoff run, proving that he is a franchise goaltender for them to build around.

UPDATE 6/29: Horton told Chiarelli that he's going to test free agency and won't sign a contract with the Bruins. Ugh.

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Bruins Take 3-0 Series Lead On Penguins Thanks To A 2-1 Victory In 2OT

Games like tonight are a wonderful reminder of why the NHL playoffs are second to none. Where else can you say an incredible performance (53 saves by Tuukka Rask), a guy finish a shift on a broken leg (Gregory Campbell) then to top it all off in double overtime, an exquisite goal? The Bruins beat the Penguins 2-1 at TD Garden on Patrice Bergeron's fifth goal of the postseason (2nd OT winner) at 15:19. Boston is one win away from the Stanley Cup Finals as they take a 3-0 lead over Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Brad Marchand had the primary assist but Jaromir Jagr was credited with the second assist and he created the play by losing the puck to Evgeni Malkin then taking it back and starting the rush. For the first three periods, you could say that Rask basically stole the game for the B's since he stood on his head on the way to a career-high in saves. He has clearly psyched out the Penguins (they hit the post four times). In three games (almost 11 full periods with the overtimes), mighty Pittsburgh has scored two goals. Think about that.

David Krejci scored his NHL-best ninth goal of the playoffs just 1:42 into regulation as Pittsburgh somehow lost him at the side of their net and he banked it in off Matt Niskanen's skate. Milan Lucic had the assist on Krejci's fourth goal in three games.

The Penguins blitzed Rask and he couldn't stop every shot although he nearly completed that impossible task once again. Chris Kunitz scored on a one-timer from Paul Martin and Pascal Dupuis at 8:51 in the second period. Keep in mind that Pittsburgh still hasn't led in this series. Tomas Vokoun (38 saves) proved that Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma made the right decision by sticking with him, he was very solid.

Both teams had to kill a pair of penalties in overtime: Pittsburgh's penalty kill came through twice in the first overtime while Boston's had one in each frame to make things extra nerve-wracking (if that's possible).

I can't imagine how the Penguins feel after this loss, they couldn't have done much more but they still came up short. The Bruins are clicking in so many ways which is why they've won eight of their last nine games overall. They'll go for their first sweep of the postseason in Game 4 on Friday (8 p.m., NBCSN). It took Boston three times to put away Toronto. Boston wasn't able to close out the Rangers in four games but they got the job done in Game 5. Maybe now they can do it on the first try.

UPDATE 6/7: Kaspars Daugavins will take Campbell's place but he is expected to skate on the third line. Chris Kelly should center the fourth line with Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton.

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Asking for the Penguins: So When Do The Eastern Conference Finals Start?

Who didn't think the Bruins would win Games 1 & 2 in Pittsburgh by an aggregate score of 9-1? Haha Boston followed up Saturday's 3-0 victory in Game 1 with an absurd 6-1 pasting of the Penguins in Game 2 tonight at CONSOL Energy Center. The B's took a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals back with them to Boston for Games 3 and 4 at TD Garden.

I'm not just being a Black and Gold honk when I say that this one was over after the first 20 minutes. Boston blitzed Pittsburgh with four goals in the opening frame and the Penguins' revolving door of goaltenders nor turnstiles/parking cones on defense could do anything to stop them.

Other than the final score, this win will be remembered most for Brad Marchand's heroics. He scored on a breakaway 28 seconds into regulation after stealing Sidney Crosby's weak pass attempt and skating in on a breakaway. Pittsburgh's Brandon Sutter finally solved Tuukka Rask (26 saves) at 19:26 but Marchand answered by stomping on the Penguins' throats 25 seconds later. His snipe over Marc-Andre Fleury's glove made it 4-1, it was Marchand's fourth goal of the postseason from Patrice Bergeron and Jaromir Jagr.

Boston has completely exposed Pittsburgh's overrated defensemen, looking at you Kris Letang (-3 in Game 2), and left their pair of overmatched goaltenders-Tomas Vokoun and Fleury in a Zamboni puddle in the corner. Nathan Horton made it 2-0 Bruins at 14:37 after he tipped Torey Krug's shot from the point then followed up his own rebound. David Krejci scored his NHL-best (tied with Chicago's Patrick Sharp) eighth goal at 16:31 after some beautiful passing between Horton and Milan Lucic.

Krejci's goal prompted Vokoun to get pulled but Fleury also allowed three goals (albeit when the game was already out of hand) so how can you choose between those two bums at the moment?

We keep waiting for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jarome Iginla, James Neal, Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis or Letang to do something positive but so far, they've combined for a grand total of zero points and they are collectively -19. Is this real life?

Bergeron wrapped it up 27 seconds into the third period after a sublime pass from Jagr. Johnny Boychuk assisted on Bergeron's fourth goal of the playoffs. Boychuk completed the barrage with his NHL-leading (for a defenseman) fifth goal at 18:36 from Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell.

At least the Penguins showed a heartbeat in Game 1, I can't say they did the same in Game 2. It was almost as if they packed it in once Marchand made it 4-1. The pressure of being the Eastern Conference favorites all season appears to have taken its toll on this mentally fragile squad. Many will be quick to compare the Penguins to the Canucks of 2011 but the difference there is that Vancouver won the first two games at home before falling apart in Boston and losing Game 7 on its home ice.

As the Bruins have showed countless times in the past decade alone, anything can happen in the NHL playoffs. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, they have really put themselves in a tough spot. We convinced ourselves that they would come out much better in Game 2 but it turned out that they played way worse than Game 1. Pittsburgh is light years ahead of the Rangers in terms of talent and pedigree but if they lose Game 3 on Wednesday (8 p.m., NBCSN), I'm confident the Penguins would similarly roll over and make this a short series.

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Extremely Frustrating Results: It's Called Bruins

I'm not counting on it happening anytime soon but I hope that when I have children and I teach them to love the Bruins that by then, the Black and Gold have figured out a way to close out teams and series better. Boston's bad habit has sprung up yet again as Toronto erased a 3-1 series lead with a 2-1 win tonight in Game 6 at Air Canada Centre. That forces Game 7 tomorrow night (7 p.m., NESN) at TD Garden; winner faces Rangers/Capitals who are also locked in a Game 7 tomorrow night as well.

I have trouble logically explaining how the B's could pile up 15 goals in the first four games then only two in the last two games. Yes, James Reimer (29 saves) and his defensemen have improved while Tyler Seguin (0 points in the series) and Brad Marchand (2 assists) have been ghosts all series long. Still, what is it about Boston that made them lack urgency in Game 5 on home ice? At least the effort was there from the beginning tonight but much like the last few painful months of the regular season, they can't score a goal when it counts to save their life.

Tuukka Rask had 24 saves and it was 0-0 heading into the third period. Dion Phaneuf scored his first playoff goal in five years when he deflected Nazem Kadri's shot at 1:48. James van Riemsdyk had the second assist. Phil Kessel added his second game-winner of the series following a rebound at 8:59 from JVR and Cody Franson. For the second game in a row, it took an impossible 2-0 hole in the third for the Bruins to truly wake up.

The best you can say for Boston is that they saved themselves the indignity of having a nobody like Reimer shut them out. Milan Lucic tipped in Jaromir Jagr's pass with 25 seconds left in regulation. It was Lucic's first goal of the playoffs and Zdeno Chara had the second assist.

Boston won twice as many faceoffs (40-20) but Toronto had eight more hits (58-50) and 12 more takeaways (17-5).

Game 7 is when you have to be willing to try anything to get that most important victory of the season. We saw that later this evening as Detroit head coach Mike Babcock shuffled his lines (and this was after they won Game 6) and it paid off as the Red Wings won 3-2 in Game 7 at Anaheim. With that said, I'd love to see Bruins head coach Claude Julien give Jagr a chance on the second line with Patrice Bergeron and either Brad Marchand or Tyler Seguin. One of those last two guys deserves to be demoted to the third line since they've combined for zero goals and two assists (both Marchand's) this entire series. Yuck. Jagr is clearly sick of playing with scrubs like Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley since he doesn't even try to pass it to them anymore and who could blame him?

Julien, Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli and numerous B's should be feeling the heat to win Game 7 of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal (first round) series. The Stanley Cup win was only two years ago but it'll feel like a million if they choke this series away-on home ice no less-against an average team that has no business beating them in a seven game series. Boston has all this big game experience, tomorrow night would be a good time for that supposed advantage to kick into gear. Right now, the Leafs have all the confidence and momentum.

UPDATE 5/13: Andrew Ference is on crutches and in a boot so needless to say, he won't be playing tonight either.

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Bruins Blank Hapless Panthers 3-0, Retake No. 2 Seed In Eastern Conference

The Bruins were far from perfect this afternoon at TD Garden but the margin for error is a bit wider when you play the worst team in the NHL-the Florida Panthers. Boston (27-12-5) beat Florida (13-26-6) 3-0 at TD Garden for a season sweep (3-0-0) which puts them back in first place in the Northeast Division. The B's are tied with the Canadiens, each has 59 points but Boston has four games left whereas Montreal has only three.

Any point is important and furthermore, every win is extremely vital since Boston had been 0-3-1 in their last four games. They are still struggling to score goals, one today was an empty-netter, but Tuukka Rask (28 saves; 18-9-4) snapped out of his personal funk with his fourth shutout of the season.

Would you believe me if I told you that Jaromir Jagr has been the Bruins' best offensive player since they acquired him from Dallas? He opened the scoring today at 3:03 with a sweet wrister from the slot, assists to Chris Kelly and Carl Soderberg (first NHL point). It was Jagr's second goal for Boston, the first that didn't go off his skate and 16th this season combined between the Stars and Bruins. In nine games with Boston, Jagr has two goals and six assists.

Rookie Dougie Hamilton has been in and out of the lineup recently to get some rest before the playoffs. He scored his fifth goal of the season at 13:33 of the second period when his blast from the point bounced off the bar in the back of the net and popped out. Shawn Thornton had the lone assist.

Boston's second line has been by far its best all season and they were rewarded with some points in garbage time as Brad Marchand notched his 18th goal of the season on an empty-netter from Tyler Seguin and Patrice Bergeron.

UPDATE 4/22: Nathan Horton will miss tomorrow night's game in Philadelphia as well after sitting out on Sunday.

The Bruins fittingly wrap up this warp speed regular season with four games this week: at Philadelphia on Tuesday (7:30 p.m., NESN), home against Tampa Bay on Thursday, at Washington on Saturday and home against Ottawa on Sunday. They need to win the next two games since the Flyers (20-22-3) and Lightning are not going to the playoffs. The Capitals and Senators could still be fighting for playoff positioning plus it's back-to-back so the weekend promises to be difficult.

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If Only The Bruins Could Play The Hurricanes In The Playoffs Or At Least Every Week

That was exactly what the Bruins needed: after playing tight, low-scoring games almost all season, they exploded for a season-high six goals tonight in a 6-2 beatdown of the lowly Hurricanes at TD Garden. Boston (25-9-4) jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second period so I'll forgive them for allowing two meaningless goals in the third to Carolina (16-20-2).

Ironically, Tuukka Rask (17-6-4) was the first star on a team with 18 points (6 goals, 12 assists) because he was forced to make a season-high 40 saves. The Hurricanes showed their only signs of life in the very beginning as they outshot the Bruins 7-0 in the first few minutes. That meant nothing though as Rich Peverley (1 goal, 1 assist) followed up his own rebound that fittingly went off the glass, for his fifth goal of the season at 3:51 from Dennis Seidenberg (career-high 3 assists) and Andrew Ference (1 goal, 1 assist).

Brad Marchand (2 goals) stuffed in a rebound from Gregory Campbell (2 assists) and that was the end of Justin Peters' (4 shots, 2 goals) night at 7:58. Things didn't get much better for Dan Ellis (4 goals allowed) as Marchand potted his second goal (team-leading 16th of the season) at 17:20 after Jaromir Jagr went around the net and threw it in front.

You knew it was Boston's night when Ference deflected a shot in (his 3rd goal of the season) off his hand and Jordan Caron scored his first goal of the season in the second period for a commanding 5-0 lead that might as well have been 10-0.

Something named Patrick Dwyer and another anonymous bum called Drayson Bowman ruined Rask's shutout in the third period after some sloppy rebounds but the Bruins fans went home happy since Nathan Horton's goal (his 13th of the season) was the last one of the contest. He tipped in Dougie Hamilton's perfect pass that was right to his blade at 16:56.

It is a busy week (like always this season) for the Bruins with three games in four nights but their opponents aren't exactly a murderer's row: they go to New Jersey (15-14-10) on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., NBC Sports Network) then return to the Garden on Thursday (7 p.m., NESN) to play the Islanders (19-16-4).

No matter how those winnable games go, they can take heart in the fact that they play the Hurricanes again-on Saturday in Raleigh, NC. Since they scored five goals against them the first time they met in January, put me down for seven this weekend.

UPDATE 4/9: It appears that the Bruins have signed their Swedish man of mystery, winger Carl Soderberg to a multi-year deal. Still waiting for the team to actually make it official, can't just trust the slob beat writers.

UPDATE 4/11: Nevermind, the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation blocked Soderberg's move to Boston. Thanks guys.

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I Guess You Could Say He Has The Moves Like Jagr (Shows Self Out)

Other than the goal being about as ugly as they get, I don't think you could script a better debut for Jaromir Jagr in a Bruins uniform. His "goal" which was really a pass that mistakenly went off his skate was the difference as Boston beat New Jersey 1-0 tonight at TD Garden. Good bounces like that seem to happen when you have 680 career goals in the NHL.

The third straight win for the Bruins (24-8-4) kept them within one point of Montreal, who beat Winnipeg 4-1 this evening, and it was all thanks to Jagr and Tuukka Rask (40 saves; 16-5-4) who notched his third shutout of the season and 14th of his career. Not bad for a guy that was the backup the last two games as Anton Khudobin earned back-to-back wins.

The Devils (15-13-9) are falling apart down the stretch (0-3-2 in their last 5 games) and scoring is clearly an issue for them without Ilya Kovalchuk in the lineup. Martin Brodeur (25 saves) did enough to win but his fellow product of the 1990 NHL draft class (Jagr) made sure to get off on the right foot with Bruins fans who were ready to love him from the start.

Zdeno Chara started the play by finding Brad Marchand who drove down the left wing before throwing it to Jagr who had driven to the net. His stick didn't get down in time but it still went in at 1:20 of the second period and most importantly, withstood a review since it wasn't a kicking motion. Jagr's first goal as a Bruin gave him the lead on his new team (15th of the season) while Marchand picked up his 16th assist and Chara reached double-digits with his 10th assist.

Jagr skated on the second line with Marchand and Tyler Seguin at center since Patrice Bergeron missed his first game with a concussion. Kaspars Daugavins also played his first game as a Bruin but I'm guessing that people won't be looking for his jersey in the Pro Shop quite as much as Jagr's. He was on the third line with Rich Peverley and Jay Pandolfo.

Montreal has beaten Boston the last two times they've met, both at the Garden, to take a 2-1 series lead. The Bruins have one more chance before the playoffs start to get them back and regain control of the Northeast Divison. Saturday night's (7 p.m., NESN) game at the Bell Centre should be a great atmosphere with two of the best teams not only in the Eastern Conference but the NHL as a whole (not that we'd know though since they have played teams from the other conference).

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Let The Jaromir Jagr Era In Boston Begin (Puts on Mullet, Starts Listening to European Techno)

Screw Jarome Iginla, we've got Jaromir Jagr! Haha that has to be the sentiment for Bruins fans this afternoon since Boston traded forward Lane MacDermid, prospect Cody Payne and a conditional second-round draft pick to Dallas for the 41-year-old Jagr.

Before you say wow he must be really washed up, keep in mind that he had 14 goals and 12 assists this season for the Stars in 34 games and he averaged 18:17 of ice time per game. He has been around forever, he was Pittsburgh's first round pick in 1990 (5th overall) and he played with the Penguins right away. He is the NHL active leader in goals (679), assists (1000) and points (1679) and he should solve Boston's biggest current issue: goal-scoring.

The only thing to worry about with Jagr, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, is that the conservative Claude Julien will put him on the third line or not try to get the most out of him that he can (put him with David Krejci!). With all due respect, this isn't Daniel Paille, Jay Pandolfo, Jordan Caron, Gregory Campbell, Rich Peverley, etc. This is one of the best offensive players in NHL history that has put up 78 goals and 111 assists in 180 career playoff games.

Jagr simply has to be on Boston's sputtering first line with Krejci and either Milan Lucic or Nathan Horton. It doesn't really matter which one, since they've both been awful this season by and large, but Lucic or Horton needs to go down to the third line to give the team more balance.

Oh and since we still have almost 24 hours until the 2013 NHL Trade Deadline (tomorrow at 3 p.m.), the B's can't be content to stop here. They have a good chance to win another Stanley Cup as it is but with the addition of another proven forward and especially a defenseman, they'll make their team that much better.

Keep wheeling and dealing Peter Chiarelli.

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