Apr 25, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Martin St. Louis (26) and Boston Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg (44) battle for the puck during the first period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

It was John “Hannibal” Smith who once said “I love it when a plan comes together”, and that is certainly what happened at TD Garden tonight. The Tampa Bay Lightning might be out of the playoffs but they certainly have been riding a goal scoring streak as of late under the support of Steven Stamkos and the ageless Martin St. Louis. But neither of them could penetrate the stone wall that is Tuukka Rask.

The Boston Bruins are within a game of wrapping up the Northeast Division and with the way they played tonight, it seems like they can finally do it and go into the post season the Bruins team they need to be. Tampa isn’t an easy team to face, especially when their top line has two dangerous goal scorers; but the Bruins were able to solve them and play Bruins hockey. This was an important game, and everyone came to play. It might have not been a blow out win, but this 2-0 shutout showed us a lot about how this Bruins team will evolve in it’s last 2 games of the regular season.

The first period was certainly not very east nor west in terms of play on the ice. Things looked like they might get off sloppy for the Bruins, and then Andrew Ference dropped the gloves with former teammate Benoit Poliout. Ference’s fight sparked a special kind of fire under the Bruins, and they fueled those flames through the end of the first and into the beginning of the second period. Brad Marchand has certainly been learning something from Jagr, and it’s puck handling. Marchand already had a great puck handling skill but ever since Jagr has arrived in Boston, it’s gotten much better and much more lethal. Marchand made a terrific passing play to Dennis Seidenberg who netted his 3rd goal of the season and put the Bruins up 1-0 in the second. Daniel Paille followed 13 minutes later with his 10th of the season off of a terrific saucer pass from Campbell  and put the Bruins up 2-0. Milan Lucic engaged in the second fight of the game squaring up against Keith Aulie, and speaking of Lucic; this game was all him. Lucic’s physical play and rough and tough attitude showed through tonight as he created a lot of turn overs and offensive chances for the Bruins. He may have gone pointless in this game, but his presence was felt.

The game’s first star Tuukka Rask stopped 30 shots by the Lightning (with 26 shots 5-on-5 and 4 on the Penalty Kill) and was playing his best game all season. He had two highway robbery saves on Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis and was a force to be reckoned with. On the flip side, Andres Lindback surrendered 2 goals but still made 24 saves and still managed to post a .900+ SV% by the end of the game. Rask’s team carrying play helped out when the defence got a little sloppy and it seems like he is ready to take on the roll of the playoff savior if he has to be.

The powerplay for the Bruins was one chance and again the B’s showed solid puck movement. They might not have connected for a goal but the gears are certainly turning with Brad Marchand, Jarmoir Jagr, and Carl Soderberg being the main cogs to the powerplay machine. The PK killed 4 chances and while there weren’t many short handed bids for the Bruins, it didn’t really matter as they defensively solved the strong powerplay force of the Lightning.

The Bruins will head to Washington where they will hopefully put away the Northeast Division and get their own revenge for the Game 7 OT upset in 2012. The clock has almost run down on the regular season, but the Bruins have the batteries to keep it going for the post-season.

Mar 3, 2013; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton (27) is congratulated by center Brad Marchand (63) after scoring a goal during the second period against the Montreal Canadiens at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Well, we were hoping with another amazing audience rendition of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’, the Bruins would come out of the gates and hand the fans a major victory over another hockey club. Since today’s opponent was the East leading Pittsburgh Penguins, I thought that might be a bit of a stretch. I was still hoping for a win. Not just for the Nation, but one of those moments the team could share with the other teams in the NHL. Unfortunately, the Bruins let Pittsburgh score late, and last second heroics kept the win away from the Bruins. They lost to the Penguins by a final score of 3-2.

These last few games we’ve shown the league we’re BOSTON strong, but we’ve been lacking in the Boston STRONG department.(The Bruins are 0-3-1 in their last four games.) Once again, the coach decided to mix up the lines and make a few changes to inspire or discipline his players. Milan Lucic, was given the (no offense Looch) long overdue healthy scratch for today’s game.  Carl “Yeti” Soderberg got his first NHL start tonight as a member of the Black and Gold.

The Bruins gave up two third period power play goals in the third. Was some of the officiating questionable? Yes. Did it really steal our thunder and cause a depleted Pittsburgh squad to run rough-shod over us in the final period? Absolutely.

The Bruins did start off early with a great goal by Brad Marchand.  Tuukka Rask even scored an assist on that play. While Brad Marchand was shut out of tonight’s three stars, this Bruin at least went out there and played with his heart on his sleeve.  #63 summed up his feelings post-game with the press. “We felt the same way as last game with the ceremony and again with all the police and fireman and everything in the building. It was a special time again and we definitely built a lot of momentum off that. We came out very hard, had a great start, and again, we carried that through the whole game pretty much. Again, we just didn’t get the results.”

“When we play a game like we did tonight and we only get one goal, and one with a couple of seconds left, it’s definitely frustrating,” added  Marchand. “We deserved a little better, but we got to put a little onus on ourselves and make sure we step [up] in the next game.”

Teams need to have momentum going into the post season. It’s very rare to see a team come on fire in the playoffs after a bad run going into them. We all want to see the duck boats down Boylston Street. (After the events of the last week, I dare say we need them.) I love the Black and Gold, but I’m getting worried that we won’t see a repeat of 2011. I’m afraid we’ll see a repeat of the ‘one and done’ in 2012.

Apr 6, 2013; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand (63) and Montreal Canadiens forward Brian Gionta (21) get ready for a faceoff during the third period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Bad news usually comes in a multiple of three, and yesterday proved no exception to the Boston Bruins. We found out one player was concussed and will be out a week, one player won’t even be allowed to play for us, and we ran out of gas against a desperate and resurging opponent. So, let’s take a quick look at the mess that was yesterday.

1.) Bad News: Brad Marchand has a concussion.  Good News: Thankfully, it’s a mild one. Sadly, it means he’s down for at least a week. Between the loss of Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, the Boston Bruins are definitely lacking in the offensive firepower category going into the last few games of the regular season.

2.) Good news: Carl Soderberg wants to play for the Bruins. Bad News: Soderberg’s arrival in Boston has been held up due to the Swedish federation declining to issue Soderberg his transfer card, thereby preventing him from reporting to the NHL. This is problematic, as the Bruins have already signed Soderberg to a three-year contract. Soderberg has also negotiated his release from his team in the Swedish Elite League, Linkoping.

So, now what happens? The NHL is entering a five-day period to determine its next move.(I found this out through the Boston Globe.)  The NHL could just go ahead and push Soderberg through anyway. But if that happened and the Swedish federation choses an official protest, then the whole mess will end up in some form of arbitration, and it would guarantee we would not have his services until after the season.

3.) Bad News: Even though Tuukka Rask put on an impressive goalie clinic for all of us who got to watch it last night, he still let in two goals, and that second soft puck was the difference in their 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders. Tyler Seguin did score a goal for us, but overall we had a Bruins team that looked tired, and perhaps maybe even a bit disinterested. More Bad News: The Bruins could have clinched a playoff slot last night with either a win against the Islanders or the Winnipeg Jets earning a loss. Well, we lost 2-1, and the Winnipeg Jets put up seven goals in the shellacking of the Florida Panthers.  So, we’ll have to hang on a few more days to see if the Black and Gold get into the playoffs.

Well, there’s always tomorrow Bruins Nation.