(AP Photo/Bruce Bennett)

Following an uneventful and lackluster 4-0 loss in Game 5 on Monday night to the Flyers, the Bruins have another chance at advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, for the first time in nearly two decades, tonight at the Wachovia Center.

Philadelphia, down two games to three in this best-of-seven series, faces elimination for the third consecutive time — second at home.

• Boston is 16-0 lifetime in a best-of-seven series when leading 3-0, and hold a 17-3 record when leading such series 3-2. Their last playoff loss when leading 3-2 was back in 2004 against the Montreal Canadiens in the Conference Quarterfinals.
• Philly is 1-13 all-time when trailing a best-of-seven series 2-3.

Full Story ——>

The year was 1991-92: Glen Murray played in his first NHL game after being drafted by the Boston Bruins with their first-round pick — 18th overall — and Vladimir Ruzicka topped all Bruins’ forwards with 75 points. Backstopped by Andy Moog, the Bruins finished in second-place in the Adams Division that season with 84 points, and made it all the way to the Conference Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins (who won the Stanley Cup that year with relative ease).

Fast-forward 18 years and the Black-and-Gold have yet to reach a Conference Finals series since then. But with a commanding three games to none lead, the B’s have a strangle-hold on the Broad Street Bullies.

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The Bruins take a 2-0 series lead into the Wachovia Center tonight, as they battle the Flyers in Game 3 of this best-of-seven Semifinals series. Puck drops at 7:00 p.m. as live action can be seen on Versus (HD) and heard on 98.5 FM The Sports Hub.

• The Bruins won their fifth-straight game at home inside the TD Garden on Monday night. It is their longest such home-winning streak since they won eight straight at home from Apr. 7  – May 5, 1990.
• Boston is 30-12 all time when winning the second game of a best-of-seven series, and Philly is 7-20 all-time when losing game two of such series’.
• The B’s went 0-for-5 on the power play in Game 2 and are 7-for-30 overall with the man-advantage in the playoffs (23.3%)
• The Bruins have killed off 26-of-28 times short (92.9%) during this post-season

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What: Game 5 Eastern Conference quarterfinals
When: Friday April 23, 2010 @ 7:00 p.m.
Where: HSBC Arena, Buffalo, N.Y.
Watch: NESN (HD) CBC (HD)
Hear: 98.5 FM The Sports Hub

	Playoff numbers
3-1-0	Record	1-3-0
.939	Save-percentage	.927
1.80	Goals-against average	2.26
131	Shots-against	137
123	Saves	127

Coming off a thrilling 3-2 double-overtime victory at the TD Garden on Wednesday night, the Bruins have taken a commanding 3-1 lead as they head into the HSBC Arena tonight. Buffalo outplayed Boston for a better part of that Game 4, but Bruins’ net-minder Tuukka Rask was the X-Factor once again. The 23-year-old has been nothing short of sensational, not only in this series, but all season long. Rask (see above) is edging-out Vezina nominee Ryan Miller in major statistics, including the most important one of all: wins/losses.

As anticipated, this series between these two Divisional rivals has been…[Read More----->]

Ap Photo/Charles Krupa

What: Game 4 Eastern Conference quarterfianls
When: Tonight, Apr. 21, 2010 @ 7:00 p.m. EST
Where: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Watch: NESN (HD) Versus (HD)
Hear: 98.5 FM The Sports Hub

	Playoff numbers
2-1-0	Record	1-2-0
.936	Save-percentage	.929
2.01	Goals-against average	2.36
94	Shots-against	98
88	Saves	91

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	Playoffs numbers
0-1-0	Record	1-0-0
.938	Save-percentage	.974
2.03	Goals-against average	1.00
32	Shots-against	39
30	Saves	38

Rask:
2009-10 totals: 22-12-5, 5 SO, .931 save-percentage, 1.97 goals-against average.
Career v. BUF: 4-1-0, .954 SV%, 1.43 GAA

Miller:
2009-10 totals: 41-18-8, 5 SO, .929 save-percentage , 2.22 goals-against average
Career v. BOS: 16-5-6, .914 SV%, 2.53 GAA

What: Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
Where: HSBC Arena, Buffalo, N.Y.
When: 1:00 p.m. EST today; Saturday, Apr. 17, 2010
See: NBC (HD)
Hear: 98.5 FM The Sports Hub

Quick Bruins notes:

• This will be the 41st playoff meeting, and eighth series, between these two teams. Boston holds a 21-19 lifetime record and the 140-132 scoring edge.
• In their previous seven playoff rounds against Buffalo, the Bruins have lost the first game of the series four times — but won three of those four series.
• The 24 shots in the second period of Game 1 was the second-highest in Bruins playoff history. The record is 26 shots in the second period against the Canadiens on Apr. 22, 1969.
  During the regular season, the Bruins were seventh in the NHL in shots on goal, yet last in goals-for. Quite indicative of their play in Game 1. The B’s put 39 shots on Miller with just one finding the back of the net.
• The Bruins can turn this series around and bring it back to even heading back to Boston for Monday’s Game 3 — playing a full 60-minutes, remaining physical, and letting their shots go (with some screens/traffic) on Miller will be just a few keys to victory for the Black-and-Gold.
• Expect the same lineup as Thursday night:

Lucic–Bergeron–Recchi
Sturm–Krejci–Satan
Wheeler–Sobotka–Ryder
Paille–Begin–Thornton

Chara–Boychuk
Wideman–Hunwick
Ference–McQuiad

Rask
Thomas

Team leaders:

Goals: Mark Recchi (1)
Assists: Zdeno Chara (1), Matt Hunwick (1)
Shots on goal: Chara (6), Johnny Boychuk (5) Miro Satan (5), Blake wheeler (5)
Penalty Minutes: Chara (6)
Hits: Steve Begin (5)
Time on Ice: Chara (27:07)
Blocked Shots: Boychuk (3), Adam McQuaid (3), Dennis Wideman (3)
Face-offs: Patrice Bergeron 12-for-20 (60%)

For more Sabres notes, like Nathan Gerbe being sent back down to the AHL Portland Pirates, check out Die By The Blade over at SBNation

	Year-to-date comparison
81	Games Played	81
38-30-13 (89)	Record	54-15-12 (120)
6-3-1	Last 10	7-1-2
6th Eastern	Conference	1st Eastern
3rd Northeast	Division	1st Southeast
2.32 (2nd)	Goals-against	2.76 (16th)
2.38 (30th)	Goals-for	3.83 (1st)
86.3% (3rd)	Penalty Kill	78.9% (25th)
16.4% (24th)	Power play	25.4% (1st)
20-13-7	Away/Home	30-5-5

When: 12:00 p.m. EST
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
Watch: NBC (HD)
Hear: 98.5 FM The Sports Hub

• The Bruins are in Washington, D.C. this afternoon to face the 2009-10 Presidents’ Trophy winners, Washington Capitals. The Caps have owned the Bruins this season in their three previous contests, as Boston is 0-2-1 this season and have been outscored 11-4 by Washington.
• This will be the131st meeting in their lifetime series with the Bruins holding a 68-36-22-4 record and 443-359 scoring advantage.
• The Black-and-Gold finish the season with an NHL-high of 17 sets of back-to-back games. With a win yesterday afternoon, the B’s now hold a 7-7-3 record in the first games, and are 8-6-2 in game twos.
• The Bruins locked-up a playoff berth and the sixth-seed in the Eastern Conference with their 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday. They will face the loser of today’s game: Buffalo Sabres (100) at the New Jersey Devils (101)
• Former first-round draft pick and eighth overall selection in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Zach Hamill will make his NHL debut today in a Boston sweater. Hamill, along with defenseman Andrew Bondarchuk, was recalled from the AHL Providence Bruins club yesterday. The P-Bears are in Lowell, MA, this afternoon against the Devils at the Tsongas Arena.
• Boston’s goaltending in second in the NHL in goals-against average, and are oh-so-close to a back-to-back Jennings Trophy. Tuukka Rask and Tim Thomas trail the New Jersey Devils by just 0.04 goals-against average per game on the season.
• Since these two teams won’t be seeing each other in the first-round of this year’s playoffs, it will be interesting to see which players caoch Boudreau (WSH) and coach Julien will be resting today. Blake Wheeler, Michael Ryder, and Mark Recchi are the only three players on the Bruins squad to have dressed and played in all 81 games thus far. For Wheeler and Ryder, it would be nice for them to at least accomplish something this season. And as for Recchi, I’m sure he’ll log game 82 today.
• UPDATE: From Joe Haggerty Twitter: No Chara, Recchi, Bergeron or Rask today
• The B’s are 3-for-48 on the power play over their last 17 games, and 0-for-22 in their last seven-consecutive contests.
• On the other hand, Boston’s power play has successfully killed out 18 of their last 19 times short.

• Be sure to check out Michael Hoffman over at Examiner.com for all you Washington Capitals info.

Who’s Hot:

• Dennis Wideman extended his point-streak to four games yesterday, giving him 2-2–4 totals, and 3-5–8 totals in his last 11 games.
• Zdeno Chara is 0-4–4 in his last four-consecutive, and has totaled  2-7–9 in his last ten contests
• David Krejci has been en fuego; 3-8–11 totals in his last 10 contests and 5-13–18 totals over his last 16 games.
• Milan Lucic has a three-game point-streak with an empty-netter yesterday. Now giving him 1-2–3 totals over those three and 2-5–7 in his last 11.

Around the league:

• N.Y. Rangers can squeak into the playoffs with a regulation-time win over the eighth-place Philadelphia Flyers today at 3:00 p.m. EST. That game will be shown on NHLN (HD)
• The fourth-seed Sabres are in New Jersey at 5:00 p.m. EST to tackle the third-place Devils. It’s not on TV around here, unless you’re a Center Ice subscriber. The loser in this one will be the Bruins first-round opponents next week. Go Devils!

	Year-to-date comparison
80	Games Played	81
37-30-13 (87)	Record	35-36-10 (80)
6-3-1	Last 10	5-3-2
6th Eastern	Conference	11th Eastern
3rd Northeast	Division	3rd Southeast
2.32 (2nd)	Goals-against	3.05 (24th)
2.36 (30th)	Goals-for	2.76 (13th)
86.1% (3rd)	Penalty Kill	80.3% (19th)
16.7% (23rd)	Power play	17.1% (21st)
17-17-6	Home/Away	14-19-7

• The New York Rangers didn’t do the Bruins any favors last night by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-3, in regulation. With their win, however, the Rangers have kept their playoff hopes alive — another regulation-time win tomorrow against the Flyers, and they’re in.
• Boston will have to take matters in their own hands now: “Win and you’re in”.
• This is the 174th time in this lifetime series (including franchise totals as the Hartford Whalers) with the Bruins having a 91-64-16-2 record and 598-516 scoring edge. Boston is 2-1-0 on the season against the ‘Canes.
• The Bruins conclude their NHL-season-high 17th set of back-to-back games this season, with game 81 today and 82 tomorrow in Washington. Boston holds a 6-7-3 record in the first game, and are 8-6-2 in game twos.
• Boston’s goaltending is flirting with another Jennings Trophy this season — up from 2.42 goals-against on Mar. 23 to 2.32 entering today’s contest — thanks to Tuukka Rask. The 22-year-old  needs some serious consideration for Calder Trophy this season as the NHL’s rookie of the year, as he tops all goaltenders in goals-against average (1.97) and save-percentage (.931) in 44 games played. Add on another 10 games or so, and the Finland native could be a top-3 candidate for the Vezina.
• Rask is also 3-1-1 in his last six games played with one shutout, a .960 save-percentage (144 saves on 150 shots-against) and a goals-against average south of 1.20. No wonder he was the NHL’s Third Star of the Month.
• Not so powerful-play: After going 0-for-5 on the power play last night, the B’s have been held scoreless with the man advantage in six straight games, 0-17.
• Man-down: Overshadowed by their anemic PP, Boston’s penalty-kill remains among the best in the NHL — having successfully killed-off 14 of their last 15, and 27 of 30 in their last 11 games.

Who’s Hot:

• Satan Scores:  Three goals in his last three games
• Quit the Wideman “boos”: A three game point streak with 2-1–3 totals and 3-4–7 totals in his last 10.
• One man Recchi’ng Crew: 3-3–6 totals in his last eight games.
• Busted-beak Big Z:  A three game point streak with 0-3–3 totals and 2-6–8 totals in his last nine contests.
• Holy Krejci: With 3-7–10 totals in his last nine contests and 6-13–19 over his last 18 games played.
• Looch! It’s 2008-09!: two game point streak with two assists and 1-5–6 totals in his last ten contests.

On the Bruins huge two-point victory over the Buffalo Sabres: “It was for sure big points on the line and so we are happy with the win and we got to get ready for next game.” Zdeno Chara said to the media on Thursday night. “We’ll see what’s going to happen around the league but we can’t rely on other teams losing. We got to keep moving forward and try to win as many games as possible ’til the end, which is two games left.”

Team	Games Played	Wins	Losses	OTL	Points
6th	80	37	30	13	87
7th	81	39	33	9	87
8th	80	40	34	6	86
9th	80	37	33	10	84

The Eastern Conference is jam-packed from spots six-to-nine. So many different scenarios can take place depending on who loses to whom. But it’s also pretty easy.

How they get in:

Bruins: Two-points. A win tomorrow afternoon against the Hurricanes seals-the-deal.

Canadiens: Same. The Habs just need to beat the 29th ranked Maple Leafs tonight.

Flyers: Ditto. But they’ll need to do it in regulation over the New York Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden.

Rangers: Two regulation-time victories over the Philadelphia Flyers.

There are a bunch of different scenarios that you can mix-and-match from now ’til the end of both games tonight. Here are just a few to rattle your brain:

1. It’s amazing how this ended-up; the eighth-place Philadelphia Flyers finish the season with a home-and-home series against the ninth-place New York Rangers, tonight, at Madison Square Garden. A regulation win for the Flyers would clinch themselves a playoff berth with 88 points– all while guaranteeing both the Bruins and Canadiens a spot into the post-season, and allowing the Rangers to make their tee-times as early as this coming Monday…
2. If the Rangers win both games against the Flyers in regulation, the Habs beat the Leafs, and the Bruins get just one-point in their next two games, Philadelphia is history…
3. But if the Habs lose their last game of the season tonight, they could be eliminated themselves….only if the Rangers win both games against the Flyers — one must be an overtime/shootout victory — then both N.Y. and Philly would wind-up in the playoffs with 88 points each.

So it’s all up to the Rangers tonight. With a regulation-time loss tonight, we can quit mixing-and-matching these scenarios and look forward to Montreal, Philly, and Boston duke it out for spots 6-8.

The Bruins are an even .500 with a 5-5-1 overall record this season against their three remaining opponents of the year, and have been outscored 30-29 over those 11 games. The Atlanta Thrashers have been eliminated from the playoff race with their 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils last night in Kovalchuk’s return to the Phillips Arena. But those pesky New York Rangers are still just three-points back of the B’s in ninth-place with two game remaining.

The recent news of Dennis Seidenberg’s season-ending surgery – okay, eight-weeks — definitely limits the Bruins’ chances of a first round upset. But we’ve got the NHL Draft lottery right around the corner, so that’s something positive to look forward to. Plus, Mark Recchi was nominated as a finalist this morning by the Boston chapter of the PHWA for the NHL’s Masterson Award.

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