Fresh off of clinching their playoff berth Monday night with a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils, the Boston Bruins have little time for rest as they return to the ice tonight for their eighth and final meeting with the Devils.
It could be easy for the Bruins just to be happy with clinching their postseason berth, but there is still plenty of work left to be done.
Following their win over the Devils Monday, the Black and Gold moved into third place in the East Division ahead of the New York Islanders after they surrendered three third-period goals in losing 4-2 to the Buffalo Sabres. The Bruins are three points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals for the top spot with one game in hand of the Caps and two on the Pens.
Bruins have other needs to work out before the playoffs.
The Bruins power play has been slumping as the regular season comes to an end, but still, with the addition of Taylor Hall, their 5-on-5 goal scoring has gone up. Still, Boston would benefit if they could get their man advantage back on track.
Brandon Carlo is scheduled to return to the lineup tonight after basically missing two months with a concussion and an oblique injury. Getting him back in time for the playoffs is big as it gives the Bruins a solid top-four with the addition of Mike Reilly at the trade deadline. I would not be surprised to see Carlo tonight, Thursday, Saturday, and Monday, but take Tuesday off and not play in back-to-backs to get his game conditioning back.
With four games remaining after tonight, two at home against the New York Rangers and one each with the Islanders and Capitals, the Bruins still have playoff positioning to play for and kinks to work out with the power play and players conditioning.