The Bruins finally will know who their opponent will be for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs after the conclusion of Thursday's NHL games.
Boston clinched the Atlantic Division last month and locked up the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed, guaranteeing it to play the second wild-card team. But that race turned into a doozy with the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders and Florida Panthers all fighting for the last spot in recent weeks.
Buffalo was eliminated Tuesday and the Penguins were knocked out of playoff contention Wednesday after the Islanders earned a win over the Montreal Canadiens, which ended the Pens' streak of 16 straight seasons of making the Stanley Cup playoffs.
That leaves the Panthers and the Islanders as the wild-card teams, and their seeding will be determined Thursday when Florida takes on the Carolina Hurricanes at FLA Live Arena. If the Panthers win, they'll earn the top wild-card spot and the Islanders will come to TD Garden next week.
If Florida loses, the Isles will be the No. 1 wild-card team and the Bruins will host the Panthers.
Either team will be a tough opponent for the B's, but Boston did sweep the season series against the Islanders and went 2-1-1 against the Panthers.
The Bruins wrap up their regular season on the road against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. Puck drop from Bell Centre is set for 7 p.m. ET on NESN.
