Following up on previous reports, Philadelphia Flyers left-winger Simon Gagne is scheduled for an MRI on his big right toe today. The 30-year-old had surgery last Friday on the broken toe, but is expected to hit the ice as early as this afternoon if all goes well. Gagne posted 0-2-2 in four playoffs games against the N.J. Devils last series, and averaged 18:11 minutes of ice time — 3:42 on the PP (4th most amongst forwards) and 2:51 on the PK.

Trentonian.com

Skating Friday could get Gagne back in the lineup sooner than expected. It depends on the schedule that comes out for the second round, but Gagne may be able to make it back for Game 4, but more likely Game 5 of the next round, if all goes according to plan.

Since receiving 60-70 stitches above his right eye after blocking a Paul Martin slapshot in Game 5 of the quarterfinals against the Devils last Thursday, Flyers right-winger Ian Laperriere is out for the remainder of the playoffs. The 36-year-old right-winger averaged 12:16 of ice time in all five quarterfinals playoff games, but had over a third of that time — 4:27 — coming on the shorthand/PK.

Philly.com/inquirer/sports

Laperriere is expected to miss the rest of the playoffs because of a brain contusion and concussion he suffered while blocking a shot. That means [Blair] Betts will have a new linemate and penalty-killing partner when the Flyers open the Eastern Conference semifinals Saturday at Boston at 12:30 p.m.

Betts and Laperriere formed a dynamic penalty-killing unit that helped the Flyers kill 28 of 32 power plays (87.5 percent) in the five-game series against New Jersey.

Thanks to a lifelong rival and arch-nemesis, Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins can now prepare for their next round  opponents: Winter Classic and Conference foes, Philadelphia Flyers.

The No. 6 seed Bruins now have home-ice advantage throughout this series against the Flyers; beginning on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. EST at the TD Garden.

The Bruins HAVE had some luck against the Flyers during the regular season, including the Jan. 1 Winter Classic. Boston posted a 2-1-1 record against Philly and outscored them 11-9 over those four contests.

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The Montreal rewrote the NHL history books tonight — becoming the first No. 8 seed to come back from a 3-1 defecit and taking out the No. 1 seed in the best-of-seven series. The Habs defeated  the Washington Capitals 2-1 in a thriller at the Verizon Center and became the 22nd team in NHL history to come back down 3-1 to win 4-3. And in doing so, they gave their longtime rivals from Boston, MA, the best possible semifinals matchup.

The Bruins will host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and Monday night at 7:00 p.m. in Games 1 & 2 at the TD Garden to kick-off the Eastern Conference semi’s.

Center Jeff Carter (1 PPG and 1 assist against the Bruins this season) is out for the remainder of the playoffs after undergoing successful foot surgery. Left-winger Simon Gagne may hit the ice on Friday, but won’t be back before Game 3.

Bruins vs. Flyers regular season stats: Bruins were 2-1-1 in four contests in the regular season versus the Flyers with a 11-9 scoring edge.

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B's fans should want to see this around 9:30 p.m. tonight

For the first time ever, Bruins’ fans have a reason, and an excuse, to be rooting for their long-time nemesis and rivaled Habs, as a Canadiens victory could favor Boston’s semifinals matchup

With their series tied up 3-3, the No. 1 seed Washington Capitals host the No. 8 Montreal Canadiens in the series-deciding Game 7 of the Conference quarterfinals tonight at 7:00 p.m. inside the Verizon Center.

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The Bruins took to the ice today at Ristuccia Arena in their first practice since eliminating the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6 on Monday night. Here were the lineups this morning in Wilmington.

White: Sobotka–Savard–Ryder
Gold: Sturm–Bergeron–Recchi
Grey: Lucic–Krejci–Satan
Brick: Paille–Begin–Wheeler

Defense:

Chara–Boychuk
Wideman–Hunwick
Ference–McQuaid

Rask
Thomas

Read more over at WGAM ——>

The Boston Bruins advance to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs for the second straight season. With a 4-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6 at the TD Garden tonight, the Bruins will face either the Philadelphia Flyers with home-ice advantage; or the Pittsburgh Penguins on the road in the Semifinals.

“Tonight was just, “Finish them off.” We didn’t want to go back to Buffalo. It’s a tough city and a tough rink to play in.” said Bruins’ goaltender Tuukka Rask. “After last game, everybody realized we weren’t at our best and we had to get better. I think we showed great character today.”

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Second Period Summary
SCORE	2	1
SHOTS ON GOAL	5 (19)	10 (19)
FACE-OFFS	21/37 - 57%	16/37 - 43%
BLOCKED SHOTS	4 (9)	6 (9)
HITS	9 (29)	9 (18)
PENALTY MINUTES	6 (8)	4 (6)
POWER PLAY	2/3	0/3

• Goal: On another power play, 4-on-3, Krejci with a slap-pass shades of Derek Morris, through the slot to Recchi his third of the playoffs and 53rd of his postseason career. -75–128
• Another reason how the NHL officiating has sucked throughout the playoffs. Milan Lucic got yanked for roughing, but it was Buffalo’s Adam Mair who cross-checked Kreji and unloaded a few shots to the back of No. 46’s head. And just seconds later, on the PK, Marco Sturm got held up — literally — at center ice by Jason Pomminville, as No. 16 and his speed would have had a clear-cut breakaway.
• Is Wideman regressing back to his old-self? He’s only accounted for one giveaway (Wideman owes the NHL stat keeper dinner) Skating backwards and on his heels, No. 6 tried to clear the puck up the middle. But Sabres’ forward Tim kennedy intercepted the clear attempt, dished it to BC alumni Nathan Gerbe, who threaded it perfectly to a crashing Patrick Kaleta. After that goal, it was all Buffalo.
• Vanek, who leads all Sabres with three shots on goal tonight, undressed Wideman on the Bruins blue-line for a semi-breakaway. But Rask comes up big once again, one of his seven saves of the period, and 18 of 19 in the game.
• Boston is now 6-for-19 (31.6%) on the power play in this series, and have successfully killed-off all 20 times short.

Goal: Recchi (3) 53rd of his career

Assists: Krejci (2), Bergeron (3)

First Period Summary
SCORE	1	0
SHOTS ON GOAL	14	11
FACE-OFFS	12/24 - 50%	12/24 - 50%
BLOCKED SHOTS	5	3
HITS	20	9
PENALTY MINUTES	2	2
POWER PLAY	1/1	0/1

• The Bruins went 1-1 on the power play tonight, and are now 5-18 on the PP (27.8% proficiency) in this series. This is the first game, in six, that Boston has lit the lamp first in a game.
• Goal: Mark Recchi took a feed from Matt Hunwick on the point, then zipped a hard pass from the half-wall to Krejci in the slot. The center tipped it past Sabres net-minder Ryan Miller low-blocker side.
• Bruins show why their penalty kiill was ranked top-3 in the NHl during the regular season, while setting a record  for fastest three shorthanded goals on one penalty-kill. Sturm rang a wrister off the crossbar…followed by a Recchi and Danile Paille 2-on-1. The Bruins outshot the Sabres 2-1 on that PK, and have now successfully killed all 17 times short this series.
• The Bruins began the first half of the first period aggressive, killing the Sabres momentum from Game 5. The B’s outhit the Sabres 14-5 in the first 10, and 20-9 by the intermission.
• Speaking of Game 5 — and no shocker here — the physicality and bad-blood has carried over since their last meeting at the HSBC Arena. Zdeno Chara will begin the second period in the box for a minor roughing call — as some more funny stuff ensued once again with Paul Gaustad and Mike Grier and co.
• The Sabres had their fair share of scoring chances throughout the first 20 minutes with 14 shots on goal. But Tuukka Rask stopped all of them and continues to be the best player dressed in Black-and-Gold. Rask has accumulated a whopping .964 save-percentage at the TD Garden in this series, thus far.

Goal: Krejci (2)

Assist: Hunwick (4), Recchi (2)

The NHL released its finalists for this year’s Masterton Trophy. Boston Bruins 42-year-old forward Mark Recchi was the team’s finalist for the award this year, but didn’t make the top-3.

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Kurtis Foster, San Jose Sharks forward Jed Ortmeyer, and Washington capitals goaltender Jose Theodore are the three finalists for the 2009-10 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

“The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is an annual award under the trusteeship of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association and is given to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. The winner is selected in a poll of all chapters of the PHWA at the end of the regular season.”

From the NHL News release: NEW YORK (April 26, 2010)

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With Bruins’ defenseman Zdeno Chara now cleared to play in Game 6 in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, Colin Campbell and the NHL should still review the video footage of  last night’s near-melee that occurred between the B’s and Sabres.

With less than a second remaining in the game in last night’s 4-1 loss, (watch video here), Buffalo’s Paul Gaustad decided it would be a good idea to slash the back of Chara’s legs/skates. What unfolded was Chara dropping the gloves with Gaustad, while defensemen Craig Rivet and — AHL call-up — Cody McCormick were the third- and fourth-men in the altercation.

Here’s what the NHL rules says about the third man in who intervene in a fight:

“47.16 Third Man In – A game misconduct penalty, at the discretion of the Referee, shall be imposed on any player or goalkeeper who is the first to intervene (third man in) in an altercation already in progress except when a match penalty is being imposed in the original altercation. This penalty is in addition to any other penalties incurred in the same incident.

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