The Boston Bruins look to turn around a mid-season swoon that's seen them go 5-4-1 in their last ten games today as the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins come to town.

Prior to a shutout loss on Wednesday against Toronto, Pittsburgh ended a six-game losing streak by winning eight games in a row, and has been playing some of the best hockey in the league since the calendar turned to 2012.

Evgeni Malkin (27-32=59 totals in just 44 games) has been playing some spectacular hockey in the absence of team captain Sidney Crosby, who continues to suffer from concussion-related symptoms. James Neal (27-21=48 51 games) and Chris Kunitz (14-18=32) have also been strong for Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile the Bruins, who had been playing the best hockey in the league in November and December, have been hampered by injuries, suspensions and the absence of strong fundamentals as they have fallen to inferior opponents time and again. After going 21-3-1 in the final two months of 2011, the Bruins are 8-5-1 since the calendar turned, and haven't won consecutive games since January 12th.

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Seriously, guys. it's been 21 days without a winning streak. And the worst team in the conference is in town. Let's at least beat them once this year? Please?

It's the game we've been wating an entire week for. So let's just get down to business, shall we?

The first "half" of Boston's season wraps up today in Washington, and it's safe to say that many of the Bruins are ready for the hard-earned time off. But they'll have to earn two more points tonight if they want to truly enjoy it.

The Bruins will be without Nathan Horton tonight, and for an undisclosed amount of time going forward. The Capitals will be without Alexander Ovechkin for the next three games.

Boston, which also is without Andrew Ference, who is serving a suspension for charging the New York Rangers' Ryan McDonagh, looks to close out the first half of the season on a high note against a Capitals' squad that has seen its share of struggles lately, but has rounded into form of late.

Expect to see Benoit Pouliot in Horton's place on the right wing with David Krejci and Milan Lucic, and look for Zach Hamill to center Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly in Pouliot's absence on the third line.

Just 24 hours after a gut-wrenching overtime loss to the Eastern conference-leading New York Rangers, the Boston Bruins are set to hit the ice in Philadelphia to take on the Flyers in another battle of Eastern Conference elites.

While the Bruins will be without Andrew Ference, who is serving a suspension for boarding the Rangers' Ryan McDonagh, the Flyers will be without Danny Briere, who becomes the fifth center that the team has lost due to a concussion this season.

Last time Boston visited Philly, the Bruins skated to a 4-0 first period advantage and didn't look back, crushing the Flyers 6-0. This time, things will look a bit different.

Tim Thomas will be in between the pipes for Boston, but it will be Sergei Bobrovsky in goal for the Flyers after Ilya Bryzgalov backstopped the Broad Street Bullies to a 4-1 victory over New Jersey in a Saturday matinee.

Of course, the Patriots happen to kick off the AFC Championship at 3 PM as well, so there's going to be some divided attention when it comes to this game. But hey, even if you're not watching the B's, you might as well join us to hear from those who are, right?

For the first time in the history of the known world, it's snowing in Boston in winter. I know, I'm as surprised as you are.

But more importantly, the Rangers-Bruins rivalry that NBC, NESN and MSG would really like to shove down our throats this spring is finally getting renewed today as Boston and New York battle for first place in the Eastern Conference.

Somehow, the Bruins have gone 44 games and are yet to play the Rangers, who they'll see once in each of the next four months.

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Having Marchand and Peverley back in the lineup is like going from BenJarvus Green-Ellis as your running back to Usain Bolt.

That said, the B's haven't been doing much defensively of late, either. So let's hope both the speed and the resolve in the defensive zone both come back tonight in Newark.

Let's go B's.

Seriously, I haven't heard a Boucher's scar joke in forever. Heard a lot of Tampa Bay jokes recently, though.

Moral of the story here is that the Bruins are plus-70 in goal differential, and the Bolts are minus-35. So this game should be a cakewalk.

But you could have said that about the last two games, too. So let's just wait and see before we jump to our conclusions.

Lines are the same as last night. Let's see if they decide to play a little bit more defense in front of Timmy.

Seriously, is anybody else as mad as I am that the Pats are in the AFC Championship and the Bruins are at the Flyers and they both start at the exact same time?

Not fun things.

But that's five days away. Or six, if you're good at math. Tonight, the Bruins look to avoid consecutive losses for the first time since December 8th when...they lost to the Panthers.

Florida's faded recently, ceding outright control of first place in the Southeast to the surging Capitals (at 21-14-8, the Panthers are actually below .500, which sort of caught me off guard). The Bruins look to take advantage of that slump and get two more points tonight.

It's a half-hour later than normal, but that just means that we have more time to get lubed up.

Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend (if you had one). Time to get back to business tonight.

Let's go B's.

If you're a sports fan, nights like tonight were made for you. Playoff Football, Hockey, College Basketball, Hockey, College Hockey, Hockey, and baseball nowhere in sight.

So get your Black and Gold or Blue and Silver or whatever other colors you choose to wear (just not Red and Black or Blue and Orange), get some beer and let's do this thing.

Editor's Note: While we always welcome inter-sport banter, if you're looking for strictly football, be sure to check out SBNation sister site Pats Pulpit's game thread. Otherwise, feel free to throw your GIFs of Gronk destroying people or Brady spikes or Tebow crying below.

Let's go Pats. Let's go B's. Let's do it.