Michael Ryder's first goal in 13 games came when he converted a third-period penalty shot that ended up being the difference in locking up the crown. The loss also officially eliminates the Thrashers from playoff contention.
The Bruins will look to continue to build momentum toward the playoffs when they play the Rangers in New York on Monday.
Third Period, 18:17, Bruins 3-2: Craig Ramsay uses his timeout to try to set up something here for Atlanta with a faceoff in the Boston zone. Pavelec is out for the extra attacker.
Third Period, 16:38, Bruins 3-2: Marchand stirring things up again, this time with a bump on Stuart after the whistle. Stuart responds with a jab of his stick to Marchand's midsection, but no penalties are called.
Third Period, 15:16, Bruins 3-2: The Thrashers making a push in response to the Ryder goal, but Rask is up to the task. He denies Anthony Stewart on a bid from the left circle. Atlanta has a 28-22 edge in shots, but the Bruins maintain the one-goal lead.
Third Period, 12:31, Bruins 3-2: Michael Ryder may have just kept himself in the lineup a little longer, as he makes a steal from Zach Bogosian and breaks in alone.
He's taken down by Johnny Oduya and is awarded a penalty shot, which he buries up high cutting to the middle from the right side.
Third Period, 11:26, 2-2: Evander Kane appeared to grab and toss Hnidy into the back of the Bruins net, but no call is made.
Third Period, 9:05, 2-2: The Bruins with their best chance of the period as Hnidy sends a shot in from the right point with Chris Kelly set up in front. Kelly flipped the rebound out front, but nobody was in the slot to bang it home.
Third Period, 5:34, 2-2: The Thrashers have a 7-1 edge in shots to start the third period, and their best chance didn't even register as a shot as Rob Schremp missed the net from the left slot after a Bruins turnover.
Third Period, 3:58, 2-2: Paille almost sends Seguin in alone down the middle of the ice on a line change, but the bid is broken up.
Third Period, 0:00, 2-2: The final frame is under way, with the Bruins look to pull out the win and clinch the division title.
Brick Breaks Down the Game: Spent a few minutes with NESN analyst Andy Brickley to go over what we've seen so far and what the Bruins will need to do in the third period.
Here's Brick's breakdown:
"It looks like the Bruins can do whatever they want to do in the offensive zone. They just haven't been sharp enough with the puck. They haven't been sharp enough overall.
"[Shane] Hnidy impressed me on his first couple of shifts when he had time and space. That [second] period with the longer change he had to deal with more in his own zone. he's been good. He's a smart player, a veteran player, but he needs to get more reps.
"Mark Stuart had a great hit on [Tomas] Kaberle. That was a good clean hockey hit. [Nathan] Horton grabbed him but I was glad to see nothing happened there. That's a good sign of respect there. And it was nice to see the reception Stuart got from the fans. He deserved that. he was a good strong player here and a great leader in the room. It was tough to see him go. And [Blake] Wheeler too. He's a really good kid. Atlanta should be happy with that deal. They good two quality NHL players out of it.
"I was happy for [Daniel] Paille to get that goal. I love his attitude. It's been a tough year for him being in and out of the lineup, but he adds value to the team with his speed and his penalty killing and it's great to see that he's been able to maintain that positive attitude through it all.
"In the third, I'd like to see fewer mental mistakes and the Bruins be a little sharper in the offensive zone. They're getting opportunities, but they have to bear down. This is a team that they should be able to put away. They have to exert their will on them in the third."
End Second Period, 2-2: Forty minutes haven't settled anything in this one, as the Bruins and Thrashers exchanged goals in the second and will head to the third deadlocked at 2-2.
Second Period, 17:00, 2-2: Mark Stuart makes his presence known in his return to Boston, flattening Tomas Kaberle with a huge hit at the blue line in front of the Boston bench.
Second Period, 14:05, 2-2: Mark Recchi almost gets a chance in front off a feed by Brad Marchand, but Recchi's stick gets knocked out of his hands. He looks for a slashing call, but none is coming.
Second Period, 12:40, 2-2: The Bruins are continuing to pressure after that goal, building a 15-9 edge in shots with a few good opportunties, but it remains a 2-2 game.
Second Period, 7:47, 2-2: The Bruins kill off the rest of Hnidy's penalty, and the sides are now back at even strength with Boston looking to build off the momentum from Paille's shorthanded strike.
Second Period, 6:18, 2-2: The Bruins take advantage of a break of their own as Daniel Paille ties it with a shorthanded tally.
Zach Bogosian's pass to Dustin Byfuglien hit Paille's skate, and Paille pounced on the loose puck in the left circle and fired home a quick wrister.
Second Period, 5:47, Thrashers 2-1: The Bruins take another delay of game penalty, this one on Hnidy for his first penalty minutes of the season. Big kill here for Boston, which can't afford to let Atlanta go up by two.
Second Period, 5:07, Thrashers 2-1: The Bruins really look out of sync in this one. Rask is fighting the puck and even simple entries into the zone have become a challenge with another offsides call there.
Second Period, 1:37, Thrashers 2-1: The Thrashers take the lead as Evander Kane takes advantage of some poor coverage in front and puts home the second-chance opportunity.
Nik Antropov had the initial chance at the left post, but his shot was blocked by a sprawling Patrice Bergeron. It bounced to Kane between the circles, and he fired it home for Atlanta's first lead of the day.
Second Period, 0:30, 1-1: The Thrashers have announced that defenseman Tobias Enstrom has suffered an upper-body injury and will not return in this game.
Second Period, 0:00, 1-1: The middle frame is under way here at the Garden, with the Bruins looking for a little more energy in this period to get things going.
First Intermission Notes: Neither the Bruins nor the Thrashers seemed to realize this was a matinee game, as both teams struggled through a sleepy opening period.
That's just fine by the Thrashers, who are content to keep the crowd out of the game and try to keep this one a close, low-scoring affair on the road. The Bruins, however, definitely need to bring some more energy in the second period.
Boston had a slight edge in shots at 6-4, but it's never a good thing when both teams combine for just 10 shots. There were also just eight hits, four by each team, as there wasn't much going on in the physical game either.
Shane Hnidy played 4:01 over six shifts in his first action this season. He didn't have any stats, but didn't look out of place on the ice. Brad Marchand celebrated his Seventh Player Award by picking up the primary assist on Mark Recchi's goal.
End First Period, 1-1: And the first period comes to a close with the clubs deadlocked at a goal apiece.
First Period, 18:54, 1-1: The Bruins don't do anything with that power-play chance, failing to even get a shot on net during the man-advantage.
First Period, 16:54, 1-1: The Bruins get their first power-play chance as Alexander Burmistrov gets called for unsportsmanlike conduct after taking a high shot on Rask well after the whistle for offsides. That drew a crowd for a brief scrum, but Burmistrov got the only penalty.
First Period, 16:19, 1-1: The Bruins are able to kill this penalty off, and it remains tied with the sides now back at even strength.
First Period, 14:19, 1-1: Michael Ryder, who served Rask's penalty a few minutes ago, goes to the box for his own offense as he takes a tripping call deep in the Atlanta zone to give the Thrashers another power-play opportunity.
First Period, 11:11, 1-1: The Thrashers finally get their second shot and it's enough to tie it as Dustin Byfuglien scores just five seconds after Rask took a delay of game penalty.
Bryan Little won the faceoff to start the power play back to Zach Bogosian, who fed it over to Byfuglien. Rask got a piece of the blast, but it went up and over him and bounced in off his back.
First Period, 10:55, Bruins 1-0: Nearly 11 minutes in and Atlanta is still stuck on one shot, and still stuck in their own zone for the most part. Do the Thrashers know this is a matinee start?
First Period, 8:40, Bruins 1-0: Tuukka Rask must be getting lonely. He's only faced one shot so far, and that was a long-range blast he easily turned aside. The Thrashers have spent almost no time in the Boston end to this point.
First Period, 4:34, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins strike first in this one, with Mark Recchi collecting the goal.
Brad Marchand made the play down low on the right side, and Recchi tapped in the loose puck in the crease behind Pavelec.
First Period, 1:00, 0-0: Shane Hnidy takes his first shift and gets a loud round of applause the first time he touches the puck.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: And this one is under way at the Garden, where the Bruins will look to officially wrap up the Northeast Division crown against Atlanta.
1:03 p.m.: Brad Marchand is your 2010-11 NESN 7th Player Award winner. The rookie has 21 goals and 40 points so far in his first full season in the NHL.
1 p.m.: The Bruins will open this one with Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Nathan Horton up front, Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk on defense and Tuukka Rask in goal.
Atlanta counters with old friend Blake Wheeler, Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little up front, Ron Hainsey and Dustin Byfuglien on the blue line and Ondrej Pavelec in goal. Wheeler got a mixed reaction when introduced.
12:55 p.m.: The Bruins have indeed scratched Adam McQuaid along with Steven Kampfer and Shawn Thornton.
Radek Dvorak and Patrice Cormier remain out for Atlanta.
12:45 p.m.: Judging from warm-ups, it looks like Adam McQuaid might get the day off on defense.
He skated in warm-ups, but was not in the line drills. Shane Hnidy skated with Andrew Ference there, with Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk and Tomas Kaberle and Dennis Seidenberg comprising the other pairings.
No changes up front, where the combinations remained:
Lucic-Krejci-Horton
Marchand-Bergeron-Recchi
Peverley-Kelly-Seguin
Paille-Campbell-Ryder
12:30 p.m.: Tuukka Rask and Ondrej Pavelec lead the teams onto the ice for warm-ups. That's the goaltending matchup for this one.
12 p.m.: The Bruins will face the Thrashers for the final time this season in about an hour, but it will be the first game of the year for Shane Hnidy.
The veteran defenseman will definitely play against Atlanta. Steven Kampfer will sit, but Claude Julien won't make the decision on the other scratch on defense until after the warm-ups. Julien did say that Zdeno Chara, who did not practice on Friday, will play.
Shawn Thornton will remain out as he has yet to get medical clearance to return frm the cut to his forehead that required more than 40 stitches to close.
Tuukka Rask will get the start in net, looking to continue his domination of the Thrashers. Rask is 3-1-0 with a 1.72 GAA, .934 save percentage and two shutouts against Atlanta.
8 a.m.: The Bruins will try again to clinch the Northeast Division title on Saturday, and this time they just need a single point to do it.
They'd still rather get two with a win as they host an Atlanta team that's given them trouble this season. The Thrashers have won two of the first three meetings, taking a 4-1 decision in Atlanta on Nov. 28 and a 3-2 shootout win in Atlanta on Dec. 30.
The Bruins won the only meeting in Boston back on Dec. 23. Shawn Thornton had a pair of goals in that 4-1 victory, but that game is best remembered for the marathon bout between Thornton and Eric Boulton off the opening faceoff and a line brawl in the closing minutes that erupted after Freddy Meyer delivered a high hit on Milan Lucic. Lucic received a match penalty for decking Meyer with a punch in the ensuing scrum, which erupted into three other fights involving Andrew Ference, Nathan Horton and Marc Savard.
Despite a strong start to the season under former Bruins assistant Craig Ramsay in his first year behind the Thrashers' bench, Atlanta has no real chance at the playoffs. They can be officially eliminated with a loss, as they are nine points out of the final spot with just five games left.
Besides Ramsay, the Thrashers will bring a couple other familiar faces to the Garden for this game, as Mark Stuart and Blake Wheeler will play against the Bruins for the first time since being traded to Atlanta for Rich Peverley and Boris Valabik in February. Wheeler has 5-8-13 totals in 18 games in Atlanta, and had actually been one of Boston's best performers against the Thrashers this year with a pair of goals against Atlanta before the trade.
The Bruins must find a way to stop Atlanta defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, who has 19-33-52 totals and 135 hits on the year and 2-5-7 totals in seven games against Boston. He had a goal and three assists in the 4-1 win in November and Atlanta's lone goal in the 4-1 loss in Boston.
The Thrashers are coming off a 1-0 victory over Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia on Thursday. Chris Mason made 43 saves for the shutout and could get his first start against Boston this year in this one after Ondrej Pavelec started the previous three meetings.
The Bruins could give Tim Thomas a rest and start Tuukka Rask, who owns a 3-1-0 record with a 1.72 GAA, .934 save percentage and two shutouts against Atlanta. Boston may also rest some players on defense, with Shane Hnidy expected to make his season debut.
The puck drops at 1 p.m., so check back here throughout the day for updates on all the action.
