The Bruins have also temporarily pulled back into a tie for sixth place in the East as the Habs currently trail the Hurricanes late in the third period. With a Flyers loss tomorrow against the Rangers, the Bruins will be in the dance and clinch a playoff spot.
A quick note about the Bruins' final goal: I just spoke to the goal judge and the tally has actually been credited to Mark Recchi, who tipped the original shot from Zdeno Chara. Recchi gets the goal, his 18th of the year, from Chara and Milan Lucic.
Anyway, it was a really gutsy performance by the Bruins tonight as they shook off a quiet first period and fought back for the win. They deserve a lot of credit for their resiliency, especially Dennis Wideman, who atoned for his first-period miscue that led to the Buffalo goal by scoring the game-winning goal 1:59 into the final frame. Tuukka Rask was brilliant again with 31 saves, and the Bruins will become Rangers fans tomorrow night! Thanks for reading and have a great night!
Third period, 3:25, Bruins 3-1: Zdeno Chara grants our wish with a rocket from the point to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead, inching them ever so close to a playoff berth.
Milan Lucic found "Big Z" at the point and Chara just let her rip. Patrice Bergeron got the other helper. The Bruins are finally showing the ability to finish a team off and could get a huge two points as a result.
Third period, 6:35, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins penalty kill gets the job done once again and kills off that Buffalo power play. Now an insurance goal would be nice.
Third period, 8:37, Bruins 2-1: Matt Hunwick is off to the sin bin for cross-checking and the Sabres are on their third power play. They're 0-for-2 so far tonight.
Third period, 11:35, Bruins 2-1: Many questioned Vladimir Sobotka's game earlier this season but he has come on strong down the stretch and is looking like Mark Recchi crashing the net tonight.
Third period, 15:03, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins are starting to shoot more instead of looking for the fancy play and it pays off on that Dennis Wideman goal.
Third period, 18:01, Bruins 2-1: Maybe those boobirds will quiet down a bit here at TD Garden because Dennis Wideman just gave the Bruins their first lead of the game. Wideman took a beautiful feed from Vladimir Sobotka and rifled a long shot past the somewhat shielded Patrick Lalime.
End of second period, 1-1: The Bruins' power play woes hurt them again in that second period as they fail to score on another two man advantages and now stand at 0-for-5. But at least they're in a better position than after the first period, tied 1-1.
The Sabres are not playing their best either, so this game is there for the taking if the Bruins want it. If they do, they must minimize all the passing and just let her rip on Patrick Lalime, who is playing with the flu and has just 12 games under his belt this season.
Second period, 3:54, 1-1: The Bruins could use a goal here, not just for the obvious reasons, but maybe to wake up this crowd that only seems to come alive to boo Dennis Wideman every time he touches the puck. Wideman is having a nightmare season, but c'mon folks, show some class!
Second period, 9:43, 1-1: The Bruins are on their fifth power play as Toni Lydman is in the box for delay of game. They're 0-for-4 so far.
An interesting tidbit from the Bruins PR staff: Sabres forward Jason Pominville is playing his 331st consecutive game, which is second all time in team history to Bruins assistant coach Craig Ramsay's total of 776.
Second period, 12:47, 1-1: The Bruins will be shorthanded now as Matt Hunwick is in the box. But they may be better off this way as their own power play is nowhere to be found.
If the Bruins are to win this game, chances are they will do it on even strength because they just can't get their power play going. As my friend and colleague Mike Petraglia of WEEI just pointed out, not only are the Bruins 0-for-4 tonight, they have gone six games without a power-play goal.
Second period, 15:30, 1-1: Sabres defenseman Andrej Sekera is in the sin bin and the Bruins have a chance to take the lead as they go on their fourth power play.
Second period, 17:45, 1-1: It's gut-check time for the Bruins here in the second period. And apparently they got the message in the dressing room that they were invisible in that first period because they just tied the game on a Miroslav Satan goal. David Krejci had the helper.
End of first period, Sabres 1-0: The Bruins failed to score on another power play before the period ended and are now 0-for-3. But what was more concerning was the complete lack of intensity and focus by this team that is supposedly playing with desperation.
The miscue by Dennis Wideman that led to the Derek Roy goal was obviously the most glaring indication that the Bruins don't have the desperation they need, but they simply look lifeless out there. Sadly, they seem to be reverting back to their Jekyll and Hyde mode after two solid games at Toronto and Washington. Maybe it is TD Garden … who knows? But this team can't use its home-ice woes as an excuse. They need to get it together in a hurry!
First period, 2:24, Sabres 1-0: Nathan Gerbe just got called for tripping, nullifying the Sabres' power play.
First period, 4:19, Sabres 1-0: Great to see Shawn Thornton back in the lineup. The Bruins' resident policeman sensed that his team needed a lift and just tried to drop the gloves with Paul Gaustad. Unfortunately, only Thornton got called for a penalty and the Sabres are on their first power play.
First period, 5:13, Sabres 1-0: The Bruins failed to score on their second power play and are now 0-for-2. They didn't even register a shot on that power play.
Buffalo is completely controlling the tempo of this game and the neutral-zone play.
First period, 9:00, Sabres 1-0: The Bruins just had one of their trademark defensive mental breakdowns as Dennis Wideman missed a pass coming out of the zone. Derek Roy ended up on a breakaway and beat Tuukka Rask.
Ironically, Roy had been stopped by Rask on two breakaways the last time these teams met on March 29. The Bruins should've remembered that and paid more attention to the opportunistic Roy. Former Boston College star Nathan Gerbe had a helper as did former North Dakota star Drew Stafford
The Bruins are on their second power play of the night as Tyler Ennis is in the penalty box for hooking.
First period, 12:22: If the Bruins can get four of a possible six points here in these final three games, they will clinch a playoff spot regardless of what the Habs, Flyers and Rangers do.
First period, 13:08: A bit of a scare down by the Bruins bench, as a shot was deflected by former BU star Mike Grier into the tunnel by the corner of the bench where Tim Thomas sits. Everyone, including Thomas, appears to be OK.
First period, 14:34: The Bruins once again failed to convert a power play and are 0-for-1. If they plan on having a chance in the playoffs, they need to get that power play clicking. That, of course, is if they make it!
First period, 17:59: We're underway here at the TD Garden. The Bruins are battling for their playoff lives and hopefully can catch the Sabres in a letdown game after they clinched the Northeast Division on Tuesday. They have a good chance to get off to a good start here as Chris Butler is in the sin bin for tripping and the B's are on their first power play.
7:07 p.m.: Greetings from high above the ice on level 9 at TD Garden as we get ready for the Bruins and Sabres. They're handing out some season-ending awards right now, so we'll take this time to inform you of one lineup change for the Bruins as Shawn Thornton is in for Brad Marchand on the fourth line with Steve Begin and Daniel Paille. Therefore the the third line will be Blake Wheeler–Vladimir Sobotka–Michael Ryder. OK. Almost ready for faceoff. Enjoy the game!
1:58 p.m.: There wasn't much on-ice news to report from the Bruins' game-day skate today. Tuukka Rask will make his fifth straight start in net and the lineup (below) should be the same as it was on Monday in the team's 3-2 overtime loss to the Capitals.
Off ice, the Bruins did receive a surprise visit from injured forward Marc Savard who has been recovering from a Grade 2 concussion. Savard looked a lot better than he did when he addressed the media on March 27 but is still not close to returning.
On the other end of the ice, there are plenty of changes as, just like the Bruins, the Sabres continue to be bit by the injury bug.
Already without forwards Tim Connolly, Thomas Vanek and Patrick Kaleta, the Sabres learned that they will now be missing forward Jochen Hecht, who reportedly suffered a broken finger, but that has yet to be confirmed. For now, it is an upper-body injury that will keep the German forward out until the playoffs at least. As a result, the Sabres have called up forward Mark Mancari from Portland of the AHL.
The Sabres will also start Patrick Lalime instead of Ryan Miller, whom they plan on resting before the playoffs begin. Lalime has played in only 12 games this season and is is 4-6-2 with a 2.86 GAA and .904 save percentage.
Here are the projected lineups:
Bruins
Forwards
Milan Lucic–Patrice Bergeron–Mark Recchi
Marco Sturm–David Krejci–Miroslav Satan
Blake Wheeler–Vladimir Sobotka–Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille–Steve Begin–Brad Marchand
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara–Dennis Wideman
Matt Hunwick–Johnny Boychuk
Andrew Bodnarchuk–Adam McQuaid
Goaltenders
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
Sabres
Forwards
Tyler Ennis-Tim Kennedy–Jason Pominville
Nathan Gerbe–Derek Roy–Drew Stafford
Matt Ellis–Paul Gaustad–Mike Grier
Raffi Torres–Mark Mancari–Adam Mair
Defenseman
Tyler Myers–Henrik Tallinder
Andrej Sekera–Steve Montador
Toni Lydman–Chris Butler
Goaltenders
Patrick Lalime
Ryan Miller
10:47 a.m.: The Bruins (36-30-13, 85 points) host the Northeast Division champion Sabres (44-25-10, 98 points) in another must-win for their push to make the Stanley Cup playoffs. With just three games remaining, every game is do-or-die and the Bruins can't afford to revert to their partial efforts and performances that have plagued them so far.
The Rangers won on Wednesday and trail the Bruins by only one point for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race, but the Bruins thankfully have a game in hand and that would be this one. That makes this game even more imperative, as a win almost seals a spot in the playoffs for the Bruins. If the Bruins lose, the Rangers would have to win their final two games (both against the Flyers) and the B's would have to drop their last two this Saturday against Carolina and Sunday at Washington for Boston to miss the playoffs. So the Bruins control their own destiny, and a win against the Sabres makes things a lot easier.
What won't be easy is dealing with a suddenly depleted defense. After losing Andrew Ference to groin and hernia problems last week, the Bruins lost Mark Stuart on Sunday after he had surgery for cellulitis on his right pinkie finger. Then came news Wednesday that Dennis Seidenberg is out for for eight weeks and likely the entire playoffs, unless they play deep into the playoffs. He had surgery to repair a lacerated flexor carpi radialis tendon in his left forearm after being slashed by a skate during the Bruins' 2-1 overtime win at Toronto on Saturday. On top of that, captain Zdeno Chara is now playing with a broken nose as well as the dislocated left pinkie finger he has played with since early in the season. But there is no time for excuses as the Bruins fight to secure a playoff spot.
"Yeah, it is unfortunate," head coach Claude Julien said. "You lose some pretty good players that have been good for us this year, and [now] another one goes down. But those are the type of things that you can't control anymore, and we have to deal with what we can. We’ve played the last two games without them and they have held their own, so you have to go in and do the same thing here."
