BRUINS SHUT OUT RANGERS TO CLINCH NHL EAST CROWN

While the Boston Bruins didn’t run away from the pack in the NHL’s Eastern Conference as it appeared they would during the first half of the season, the eventual result was the same.  On Saturday night the Bruins shut out the visiting New York Rangers 1-0 to clinch the top spot in the conference leaving the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals to fight for second place. 

Bruins goalie Tim Thomas was the big winner at the ATM machine on Friday, signing a 4 year, $20 million contract extension and on Saturday was the winner on the ice as he stopped 31 Ranger shots for the shutout and the game’s ‘first star’ award.  On the other end of the rink, the Rangers Henrik Lundqvist was the tough luck loser as he stopped 23 of 24 Boston shots on net.

The Bruins scored the only goal of the contest at the 9:04 mark of the first period when Blake Wheeler put the puck in the net assisted by P.J. Axelsson and Dennis Wideman.  After that, it was all defense and goaltending with Thomas receiving the most work in the third period as the Rangers outshot the Bruins 13-7.   Thomas also got into a bit of a scrap with well known troublemaker Sean Avery late in the game, with both men receiving two minute roughing penalties.  After the game, Thomas said he was pleased that Avery’s antics didn’t have their intended effect of causing the Bruins to get out of their game:

"I really like the fact that we kept our composure and got the win. If you can react and not have it affect your game, then he didn't do his job and it didn't work."

Somewhat surprisingly—and despite getting smacked in the back of his head with a stick—Thomas had considerable praise for Avery:

"I actually like the way he plays around the net. He's tenacious. He gets in right around the crease but he's not actually doing anything illegal but there's lines that you can cross and he seems to have a hard time figuring out what those lines are."

While the Bruins still have an outside shot of catching the Western Conference leading San Jose Sharks for best record in the NHL, for the most part their work is done until the playoffs begin.  That’s not the case for the Rangers, however, as New York will have to scrap for their postseason lives.  They’re currently in 8^th place, tied with 9^th place Florida but holding a tiebreaker advantage.  Rangers’ goalie Lundqvist stressed the importance of staying focused on the task at hand:

"It's a very, very important time right now. We can't beat ourselves up  very much right now. We're still in the eighth spot."

The Rangers have three games remaining that will determine whether or not they make the playoffs—they’ll face the Montreal Canadiens at home on Tuesday night and the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.  They’ll conclude their season with a quick road rematch against the Flyers on Sunday.  The Bruins concern is maintaining momentum with four games remaining.  They’ll travel to Ottawa on Tuesday, play Montreal at home on Thursday and head to Buffalo to face the Sabres on Saturday.