The Boston Bruins have clinched the Northeastern Division title and put together a 2-1 win over the New York Rangers. The Bruins kept the Rangers from completely sweeping the four-game series, kept the first-seeded Rangers from clinching their division and got that Northeastern Y. What a beautiful thing. No, this is not an April Fool's Joke.
It didn't start out amazingly, though, with Marian Gaborik putting away his 40th goal of the season before five minutes of the first period had elapsed. He just got on a breakaway and no one could stop him, not even an otherwise well-rested Tim Thomas. Maybe letting in that one goal inspired Thomas to be at his best, because after that, he kept the door shut tightly. His style is unorthodox and sometimes briefly terrifying (like at the end of the third period when he came out to cover the puck, it dribbled out into play again and the net was left wide open until everything got settled again), but brings results.
The Bruins didn't get on the score sheet until the second period. When they did, though, it was by way of Dennis Seidenberg in his first game back from a leg injury. Zdeno Chara did a lot of the heavy lifting, keeping the puck in the Rangers' zone even as the home team wanted to and attempted to clear it. Then, near the blue line, he dished the puck over to his fellow defenseman, who slapped it past Henrik Lundqvist for his fifth of the season. Big Z earned his 40th assist of the season and elongated his point streak to five consecutive games.
But, better yet, the Bruins scored on the power play. Again, this is not an April Fool's Joke. Patrice Bergeron did masterful work, even momentarily losing his balance after being tripped by a Rangers player, and got up to tuck in the pass from Tyler Seguin on the short side of Lundqvist's net. Brad Marchand got the secondary assist on the Seidenberg goal, so this great Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin line put up one goal and two assists. I recently said this line can do amazing things when they're working at their best. They still are.
After that, it was up to the visitors to keep the home team from scoring again because, if they left regulation with a tie, the Rangers would clinch the Atlantic Division with a win or loss, according to the NBC Sports Network announcers. Well, that was when they weren't busy underestimating the Bruins at every turn or routinely being drowned out by the ambient noise on the ice. It wasn't an ideal broadcasting situation for a Bruins fan, to say the least.
Even though the Bruins went on the penalty kill three times after Bergeron's goal, including a brief 5-on-3 situation, they stood strong and won. No sweep for the Rangers, no division win for them either, and meanwhile Boston gets that letter Y on the conference standings.
Departure and return notes: In addition to Seidenberg, Daniel Paille also returned, though Gregory Campbell was scratched due to an upper-body injury. Coach Claude Julien had some interesting things to say about Tuukka Rask, who has spent most of March unable to play with an injury. He said it "wouldn't be a surprise to see him on the ice soon." Considering that Marty Turco can't play in the fast-approaching postseason, this is promising news.
Now the Bruins travel back to home ice for an April 3 match-up with the Pittsburgh Penguins. This could prove to be a very interesting game. With the Bruins having locked up their playoff berth and division, let's hope they can continue performing well and take goodwill into the postseason.
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