Everything Left to Play For In Game 82: B's Win & Lightning Lose in OT So Boston Can Be #1 Seed

In such an arduous regular season (82 games), it is always ironic when so much can still hinge on the finale. The Bruins (50-19-12) are happy to find themselves in that enviable position though as the eyes of the entire NHL will be on them tomorrow night since they host Florida (43-30-8) in the last game before the playoffs begin on Wednesday. Boston got off to a slow start but woke up with plenty of time left to beat hapless Ottawa (28-43-11) 5-2 this evening at TD Garden. Minutes later, things got much more interesting for the B's as Tampa Bay (54-23-5) lost 3-2 in overtime at Carolina (36-35-11) leaving the Lightning with only one more point than Boston. That means any type of win for the Black and Gold (in regulation, overtime or a shootout) will give them the Atlantic Division crown, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and perhaps most importantly, they would avoid Toronto (49-26-7) in the first round.

After the Bruins had lost their last three games in a row, it felt like they were destined to finish second in the Atlantic Division and thus meet the Maple Leafs in what would be a very difficult battle. Instead in keeping with the general magic of this campaign overall, they took care of their business while Tampa Bay simultaneously peed down their collective legs. Only Buffalo (25-45-12) finished with a worse record than Ottawa in 2017-18, making last season's improbable postseason run feel like it was a decade ago. Superstar defenseman Erik Karlsson (9 goals, 53 assists) could be gone this summer and if that's the case, talk about a franchise without a direction. All that Ottawa could do tonight was play spoiler and they did that well enough, for about 20 minutes of game action.

My man Ryan Dzingel staked the Senators to a 1-0 lead in the first period as he finished a passing sequence from Matt Duchene and BC's Colin White for his 22nd goal of the season at 12:31. That's really all that happened in the first frame as Ottawa outshot Boston 10-9 and the B's looked completely lifeless. Under former head coach Claude Julien, that might have extended for the next period or the rest of the tilt but Bruce Cassidy's guys have a way of almost always responding to adversity (even that which has been created solely by themselves).

The Bruins scored three unanswered goals in the second to take a commanding 3-1 lead. David Pastrnak tied it with a one-timer and power-play goal at 8:08, his 34th goal of the season (tying Brad Marchand for the team lead) was assisted by Patrice Bergeron and Torey Krug. 51 seconds later, Tommy Wingels put Boston ahead as his shot hit the post and then Ottawa's third-string goaltender Daniel Taylor (30 saves) had the puck bounce into the net off his glove. Wingels' ninth goal of the season was unassisted. After Anton Khudobin (26 saves in his 16th win of the season) made an absurd save with a full split, rookie Danton Heinen's wicked snap shot gave Boston a 3-1 advantage at 17:01. Talk about scoring depth, his 16th goal of the season was assisted by Brian Gionta and Adam McQuaid.

Dzingel cut it to 3-2 at 7:07 of the third period with a nifty move, assisted again by White and another rookie-defenseman Christian Wolanin-who just turned pro out of the University of North Dakota. The fourth line for the Bruins has been really solid and dependable all year so it was fitting that they provided what basically amounted to the clinching goal. Noel Acciari was sent in on a breakaway by his fellow PC Friar Tim Schaller and he beat Taylor for his 10th goal of the season. Zdeno Chara had the secondary assist on the huge insurance tally at 18:09. Another guy-David Backes-that deserved a goal after all that he's been through this season had the honor of sending the Senators home for good with an empty-netter at 19:17. His 13th goal of the season was assisted by Heinen.

The Panthers were officially eliminated from playoff contention earlier on Saturday so I doubt that their minds will be really too focused tomorrow night what with vacations to plan (although if you live in Florida, do you really need to get away?) and off-seasons to begin as soon as possible. Boston last earned the top seed in the East in 2013 when they captured that cursed Presidents' Trophy. No need to worry about that since Nashville (53-18-11) already wrapped it up days ago. More than just a label or a number, tomorrow's contest means so much because a win would allow the B's to open against the Devils (44-29-9), the second Wild Card (ie. the lowest seed) in the East. New Jersey has put together a very surprising season to reach the playoffs for the first time in six years but who would rather face Toronto than them? Outside of Taylor Hall who should be in the running for the Hart Memorial Trophy (NHL MVP), who else do you fear? The Bruins won't need any additional motivation as they take on the Panthers in front of their home crowd one more time before Game 1 versus whomever on Thursday.

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No Matter the Obstacle Thrown In Front of Them This Season, The B's Keep Racking Up the Wins

Not to sound like your grandpa or some internet contrarian but it wasn't always like this with the Bruins (42-15-8). For many years, they weren't exactly known for exciting games let alone routinely pulling off insane comebacks or finishes to grab two points like they're going out of style. Yet here we are: with Patrice Bergeron (broken foot), Charlie McAvoy (sprained knee) and David Backes (suspended 3 games) all out, Boston continues to get the job done despite mounting odds against them. Tonight at TD Garden, they allowed a power play goal to the Flyers (34-23-11) only 1:38 into the contest. Also, they gave up a shorthanded goal but who cares? They still came out on top, 3-2, thanks to Brad Marchand's third straight game-winning tally-this time with 22 seconds left in regulation. It's been that kind of homestand for the B's who will try to go a perfect 6-for-6 when this wraps up on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN) vs. Chicago (29-31-8).

Tuukka Rask (31 saves, 27-11-4) had missed the last two games with a lower-body injury but he returned to face a team that he absolutely owns (now 14-2-3). Meanwhile, Boston improved to 11-1-2 in their last 14 games vs. Philadelphia including two victories this season with one more in the city of Brotherly Love coming up. Philly had lost to Pittsburgh (39-25-4) 5-2 last night so they entered on the second half of a back-to-back, meaning that rookie backup goaltender Alex Lyon (24 saves, 2-2-0)-the pride of Yale-got the start for them. The Flyers put forth a legitimate effort though, outshooting Boston 33-27 and playing well enough to beat most NHL teams with a similar performance. It's unlikely to happen but how happy would the Black and Gold be to meet the Flyguys in the playoffs this spring?

Kevan Miller got called for a high-sticking double minor right off the bat and the Flyers' No. 17 ranked power play converted nine seconds later. Jakub Voracek put in a rebound for his 16th goal of the season, assisted by rookie Nolan Patrick (No. 2 pick last summer) and Claude Giroux (tied for NHL lead along with Voracek for assists-57). Riley Nash should receive the 7th Player Award for the B's this season since who saw this kind of production coming from him? Since Bergeron went down last week, he has not been out of place at all with Marchand and David Pastrnak on Boston's top forward line. Life of Riley tied it up at 9:14 when he backhanded a loose puck a split second before Pastrnak could do the same. Miller had the second assist on Nash's career-high 13th goal of the season.

Speaking of random guys coming out of nowhere, who thought that Brian Gionta had anything left after you saw him in the Pyeongchang Olympics on the mediocre Team USA full of has-beens and never-weres? He has four points (1 goal, 3 assists) in his first four games in a Bruins sweater. Tonight, he put them ahead-2-1-late in the first period (at 19:34) with a breakaway goal from the other grey beard-Zdeno Chara with Tommy Wingels picking up the other helper. Gionta's first goal as a Bruin was a pretty one too as he beat Lyon with a backhander.

Jori Lehtera somehow found tons of space on the penalty kill nearly midway (at 7:21) through the second period and he went right at Rask before jamming it between his pads. Lehtera's third goal of the season was assisted by Valtteri Filppula and that goon Radko Gudas. Each goaltender made some solid saves after that (Lyon on Rick Nash and Rask on Ivan Provorov) but not much else really transpired until Marchand's late game heroics. Philly head coach Dave Hakstol challenged the last goal for offsides but it was ruled onside. Marchand got right to the net so he was in prime position when the puck squirted along the goal-line, all he had to do was tap it in for his team-leading 29th goal of the season. Pastrnak-who also had a chance to knock it in-and Chara provided the assists on what has to be an NHL 1st Star of the Week campaign for Mr. Marchand.

Back-to-backs are never easy, especially when you play the same team two days in a row but that's the challenge facing the B's when they take on the low-flying Hawks this weekend including Sunday in the Chi (12:30, NBC). Other than Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith, you probably won't recognize most of the players on Chicago this ill-fated season. They are rebuilding and therefore look nothing like the dynasty from earlier this decade. As always, they serve as a fine lesson that you have to enjoy these special teams in sports when you get them since you don't know exactly when the next one might show up (it could be years or even decades later).

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Newest Bruins Help Boston Continue Their Point-Streak (9-0-5 in last 14) vs. Carolina With OT Win

Franchise center Patrice Bergeron is out indefinitely with a small fracture in his right foot and the Bruins (38-15-8) had dropped their last two games of a disappointing 2-3 road trip so they returned to the Hub with a growing sense of frustration and perhaps a small dose of doubt as they come down the stretch in the regular season. Boston was greeted by their longest homestand of the season (6 games) and despite spotting Carolina (27-25-11) an early 3-1 lead in the first period at TD Garden, they managed to rally for a much-needed 4-3 overtime victory thanks to Charlie McAvoy's game-winning goal at 1:08 (his 7th goal of the season, assisted by Riley Nash).

It was a great night for some of the new guys as well with Tommy Wingels bagging a goal and assist in his Bruins debut while Rick Nash also scored a goal (his 1st as a Bruin) in his first home game for the Black and Yellow. The two points coupled with Toronto's (39-20-6) overtime loss at Florida (28-25-6) brought Boston back within a point of second-place in the Atlantic Division. The Leafs own 85 points and the B's have 84 points but Boston still has a whopping five games in hand over Toronto so that's something to bank on. The Bruins trail the Lightning (43-17-3) by five points with only two games in hand so that'll be much more of a challenge to ultimately overcome this spring.

The first period was about as good as it gets in a professional hockey game as the two teams combined for five goals including a pair on the power play (both for Carolina) and a tally with 2.9 seconds left in the frame. Brock McGinn gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 10:01 after he batted in a loose puck on the man advantage, Jeff Skinner and Justin Faulk had the assists on his 11th goal of the season. It only took Rick Nash two games into his Bruins career to find the scoresheet (he hit a post in Buffalo in Sunday's forgettable 4-1 loss) with a memorable goal-his 800th career NHL point-that tied it at one. His new linemates David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk provided the helpers on his 19th goal of the season overall at 11:41. After a turnover, Krejci found Nash wide open and he wasn't going to miss from there with Scott Darling (28 saves, 10-16-7) between the pipes.

The Bruins couldn't stay out of the box as David Pastrnak was nabbed for a high-sticking double-minor (4 minutes) and Carolina made them pay as Teuvo Teravainen went top shelf on Tuukka Rask (29 saves, 25-11-4) for a 2-1 Hurricanes lead. Faulk and Victor Rask had the assists on Teravainen's 16th goal of the season. An ugly defensive breakdown led to Sebastian Aho being all alone so Carolina's top scorer doubled his team's lead at 19:04. Teravainen and Derek Ryan assisted on Aho's 22nd goal of the season. Boston got a big boost from Riley Nash's goal at 19:57 which was the result of great patience by him to wait out Darling for a backhander and a killer forecheck by Wingels that started the whole sequence. Torey Krug somehow received a secondary assist (maybe his dad was tonight's official scorer?) on Riley's 11th goal of the season.

As you would expect, things slowed down considerably in the second period. Wingels tied it up with a snipe of his own at 5:34. DeBrusk and McAvoy assisted on his eighth goal of the season, congrats to the former Worcester Sharks legend. Carolina outshot Boston 15-12 in the second period and each club put up eight shots on goal in the third period. McAvoy's goal was the only shot on goal for either team in overtime. You'd be hard-pressed to find two worse overtime teams in the league, coming into this tilt Boston was 2-6 in the extra session while Carolina was 2-7. Keep in mind that Boston's mini-losing streak was nothing compared to the annual second-half tailspin for the Canes who have now lost six games in a row. If I know the Hurricanes though, they'll probably go on a crazy run right at the end but come up like a point or two short of the second Wild Card spot in the East.

The Bruins needed these two points for many reasons, not the least of which was the fact that mighty Pittsburgh (36-24-4) is up next on Thursday (7, NESN). As expected, the Penguins' midseason slump was just a mirage as they have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL for weeks (7-2-1 in their last 10 games after Tuesday's 3-2 loss to New Jersey). Boston-Pittsburgh is a playoff series that could very well become reality once again this spring and Thursday's matchup promises to provide a great atmosphere at the Garden (kudos to tonight's crowd that was much better than you'd expect for any game involving Carolina). The Penguins are still the defending two-time Stanley Cup champs so until further notice, they remain the team to beat in both the Eastern Conference and around the entire league. Haha please, I beg of you Hockey Gods, no Pittsburgh three-peat. It doesn't have to be the Bruins (although that would be hunky dory), just anyone but Sidney Crosby and the Pens.

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