My Bruins magic number math was correct. Two points and the tie breaker against Ottawa were enough to give the Bruins the Northeast division. Sure enough, last night the Bruins beat the Rangers in regulation, clinching the Northeast and the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. And there was much rejoicing.
The Rangers needed one point to clinch the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference. A Bruins win in overtime would have given both teams something to celebrate. Thankfully, we avoided that and forced New York to wait. Any time a Boston team denies a New York team a reason to celebrate anything, it makes me happy.
So now what? Our place in the playoffs is secure. We can't move up or down. We're the #2 seed no matter what. There are three games left in the regular season and nothing left to play for. I would suggest that for the next two games we use our regular line up, but give the top line forwards and defensemen as much rest as possible. Tim Thomas should probably play tomorrow night, but after that it should be Anton Khudobin in net. Marty Turco can't be on the post season roster. Tuukka Rask is close to returning from injury, but if he's not ready Khudobin will be the back up goalie to start the playoffs. Put him in for a couple of games and get him adjusted to the NHL. If Rask is ready by the weekend then maybe I would think we should give him a game, but at the same time I would think it smart to give him the extra couple of days off. Just in case. As for the last game of the year, the Bruins roster should look as much like the Providence Bruins as possible. Give as many players the day off as you can.
That's just my $0.02 of course. The biggest upside of clinching your spot with about a week to go is that you can rest anyone who needs rest. I think the Bruins should take advantage of that.
Bring on the post season!
Go Bruins!
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