End of Overtime, 3-3: It's shootout time, folks!
Overtime, 4:20, 3-3: The Bruins are playing this OT like they're up a man — Sabres just hanging on for dear life.
Overtime, 3:00, 3-3: Pouliot with a blast from the right wing but Enroth got a pad on it. Benny P., nearly closing out the year with a walkoff slapper.
Overtime, 2:00, 3-3: B's clearly controlling the flow here in extra time. Bergeron keeping the puck on a string and Peverley whizzing form corner to corner — pretty standard.
Sabres call a timeout.
End of regulation, 3-3: The B's turned things up a notch late in the final frame to tie things up and we're heading into sudden death overtime.
Third Period, 19:05, 3-3: Thomas nearly coughs one up as he thought he had it smothered but the puck squirted loose by his pad. Luckily he caught on quick enough to haul it back in
Third Period, 15:00, 3-3: So Tyler Seguin is one away from a hat trick and his 30th goal, Bergeron just hooked up Marchand for his 42nd assist of the season and the B's are controlling the flow with a few minutes to go, despite tied at 3-3.
B's are out-shooting the Sabres 9-1 since Buffalo took a 3-1 lead.
Third Period, 12:25, 3-3: Bergeron causes a turnover and feeds Marchand who fends off a pair of Sabres and slips one over the shoulder of Enroth to tie things up. Holy. Cow. What a crazy couple of minutes!
Third Period, 9:56, Sabres 3-2: Seguin snipes his second goal of the game to bring the B's within one goal as it's now 3-2 Sabres.
Third Period, 8:46, Sabres 3-1: And the Sabres are up a pair, thanks to a Pominville tally.
There was a good Eagle scrap in front as Mottau and Gerbe were really going at it — in fact, Gerbe got leveled by Thomas before the tally and the two appeared to have words.
Third Period, 7:05, Sabres 2-1: Boyes backhands in a loose rebound into an open net to give the Sabres a 2-1 lead.
Roy, who took the initial shot from the right side, and Vanek both get assists on Boyes' eighth of the year.
Third Period, 4:22, 1-1: Enroth starts up a little post-whistle pushfest as Thornton thought he saw a loose puck after a shot from the point.
Third Period, 3:10, 1-1: The organized game of shinny continues as the B's and Sabres slush from end to end. It's pretty obvious the fans are ready for playoff hockey, too, cause the Garden sounds awfully quiet.
Third Period, :55, 1-1: Marchand picks off a loose puck and takes it in alone on Enroth but the keeper closed down the 5-hole as No. 63 attempted to slide it through. The B's are looking great on the PK.
Second intermission, 1-1: Peverley wraps up the second frame with a great shorthanded chance. After the steal in the neutral zone, the speedster came in on Enroth and couldn't bury the backhander. B's looking great on the penalty kill and luckily (?), they'll be down a man in the opening minutes of the third.
Second period, 19:17, 1-1: Chara drops Kaleta in front of the net, knocking the Sabres forward's helmet up and almost off his head and the captain will hit the sin bin for a couple minutes. The call is tripping, which is weird because Chara simply lit Kaleta up — not sure where the stick was, but he could have got called for just about anything.
Second period, 16:26, 1-1: Lucic coughs it up at the point in the Sabres zone which eventually leads to a tying goal by Brad Boyes in the other end.
Boyes with a nice effort in front, hacking away in a swarm to sneak it through as Mottau couldn't get a stick or body on him.
Second period, 13:05, Bruins 1-0: Thornton nearly puts the B's up by two on a good chop pass from Paille from the left side. Thorty tried to hit the near top shelf but Enroth got some threads on it.
Second period, 12:25 Bruins 1-0: B's struggle through the power play, unable to take advantage of the man-up. Corvo had a blast from the point that appeared to hit Lucic who winced a bit but seems perfectly fine. He's a hockey player.
Second period, 11:27, Bruins 1-0: Sabres' Weber is going off for interference to give the B's the man-up about halfway through the frame.
Second period, 10:00, Bruins 1-0: Campbell with a nice defensive play as the puck was sent through the crease and past Thomas. Soupy was there to tie up his man so that no shot could be attempted from the far post.
Jack took advantage of the slow pace to tell Bruins fans about a note he was handed on his way in today from a fan. The note read: "To the 2012 Montreal Canadiens fans: 'Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye.'"
Second period, 6:09, Bruins 1-0: After a piece of glass was broken by the B's bench, we're back to action. Kudos to the TD Garden crew for patching that up with grace and professionalism. Best in the biz.
Second period, 6:09, Bruins 1-0: Back to the goal: Bergeron's feed (his 40th helper of the year) was a beauty but overshadowing the pass was his pick-pocket work in the neutral zone. Is there any NHL player better than Bergie between the blue lines?
Second period, 3:15, Bruins 1-0: Patrice Bergeron just fed Tyler Seguin with a beautiful pass to the far post and Seguin buried it to give the B's a 1-0 lead.
It's Seguin's 28th of the year — think the kid can bag the hat trick to make it an even 30 this year?
Editor's note: John Beattie will be taking the live blog over for Doug Flynn. Mr. Flynn's worked his tail off all season and we want to save his energy for the playoffs.
Second period, 1:30, 0-0: The B's opened up the middle frame with a nice chance in front as Peverley almost tucked a rebound past Enroth but the keeper and his defense were able to swat the puck away before Lucic could come in and help bury it.
End First Period, 0-0: The opening period comes to a close with no scoring in this one as the Bruins can't convert their second power-play chance either. The Bruins are now 1 for 19 on the man advantage over their last 10 games, an area that will need to improve in the playoffs despite last year's successful run without a strong power play.
First Period, 17:48, 0-0: The Bruins go right back on the power play as Drew Stafford is sent off for tripping Tyler Seguin in the Sabres zone.
First Period, 16:02, 0-0: The Bruins can't convert that power-play chance as Weber returns from the box and the sides are back at even strength.
First Period, 14:02, 0-0: The Bruins will get the first power play of the game as Buffalo defensemen Mike Weber is called for high-sticking.
First Period, 12:38, 0-0: The gloves come off as Shawn Thornton makes quick work of Buffalo defenseman Robyn Regehr in scrap in the Buffalo zone.
That's the 20th fighting major of the year for Thornton, who now shares the league lead in that category with the Rangers' Brandon Prust.
First Period, 10:01, 0-0: Both teams trade chances in front as the action picks up. Milan Lucic was denied on a bid from the slot at one end, then Thomas stones Matt Ellis on a shot from a similar distance at the other end of the ice. The shots are now up to 9-8 in favor of the Sabres.
First Period, 6:46, 0-0: Decent pace to start this one, with both teams creating some early chances and dishing out a few hits. Shots are even at 3-3 at this point.
First Period, 2:36, 0-0: The Sabres with an early threat in a scramble in front, but Thomas makes a pad stop on the initial shot a the left post and the rebound is sent just wide of the right post.
First Period, 1:53, 0-0: Some early hitting in this one with Patrick Kaleta ramming Chris Kelly into the boards and nearly into the Bruins bench.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: And the final game of the regular season is under way here at the Garden. This one won't have any impact on the standings, but the Bruins are looking to head into the playoffs on a high note with a strong performance.
4:05 p.m.: Before the action begins, there was some other business to take care of on the ice with the Bruins handing out their end of season awards.
Zdeno Chara takes home the Eddie Shore Award for hustle and determination, while Brad Marchand wins both the Elizabeth Dufrense Award for his performance in home games and the John Bucyk Award for community service.
The three stars for the season are Milan Lucic No. 3, Patrice Bergeron No. 2 and Tim Thomas No. 1.
4 p.m.: The Bruins will open their final regular season game with Patrice Bergeron between Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin up front, with Andrew Ference and Mike Mottau on defense and Tim Thomas in goal.
The Sabres counter with Nathan Gerbe, Tyler Ennis and Drew Stafford up front, Jordan Leopold and Mike Weber on the blue line and Jhonas Enroth in net.
3:55 p.m.: The Bruins have officially scratched Brian Rolston, Torey Krug, Adam McQuaid (eye), Johnny Boychuk (knee), Marty Turco and Tuukka Rask (groin).
Christian Ehrhoff, Alexander Sulzer and Tyler Myers are out for the Sabres.
3:50 p.m.: Based on the pre-game warm-ups, Jordan Caron will slide into Brian Rolston's spot on the third line for the Bruins.
Here are the full line combinations from warm-ups:
Lucic-Krejci-Peverley
Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin
Pouliot-Kelly-Caron
Paille-Campbell-Thornton
Defense pairs:
Chara-Seidenberg
Ference-Corvo
Zanon-Mottau
3:45 p.m.: The Bruins will have close to their normal lines for this one.
Brian Rolston is the only healthy regular getting the day off to rest, with Torey Krug also out. Krug is not eligible for the playoffs, and Claude Julien wants to give Mike Mottau some time in case he is needed in the playoffs. Injured blueliners Johnny Boychuk and Adam McQuaid remain out.
Tim Thomas is in goal and Julien plans to keep him in for the entire game.
3:30 p.m. ET: The B's have had the No. 2 seed locked up, and fans in Boston have been getting ready for playoff hockey. But before the B's finally embark on what they hope will be another Stanley Cup run, they'll be playing host to the Buffalo Sabres in the regular season finale.
While the game doesn't mean much for Boston, Tim Thomas will get the start in net as Claude Julien looks to keep him ready.
Brian Rolston, meanwhile, will get some rest, while the rest of the forward lines remain intact. Jordan Caron will assume Rolston's spot on the third line.
On defense, Torey Krug will sit, as he's not eligible for the postseason anyways. Adam McQuaid and Johnny Boychuk will also remain out.
The puck drops at 4 p.m., and all of the action can be seen on NESN. Keep it here for additional commentary and analysis.
