The Bruins are in New Jersey this afternoon to wrap up the regular season against the New Jersey Devils. The Bruins already locked up the third spot in the Eastern Conference and will take on the rival Montreal Canadiens in the first round. At the other end of the ice, the Devils have been eliminated from playoff contention and just 60 minutes of hockey separates them from the golf course.
Notes:
- The Bruins will most likely give a few key players the day off today to rest up for the playoffs.
- Tuukka Rask is expect to get the start in goal today, which means that TIm Thomas will most likely set the NHL single season record for save percentage (.9382), besting Dominik Hasek's mark from the 1998-'99 season of .9366.
- The Devils are holding their annual fan appreciation day today.
- The Bruins are 3-0-0 against the Devils this season while outscoring them 11-2.
- John Fischer from In Lou We Trust thinks that Mr. Kathryn Tappen, Jay Leach could be a healthy scratch for the Devils.
- Mark Recchi and Zdeno Chara are the only Bruins who have appeared in all 81 games so far this season. I would not be surprised if one or both of them sat out today.
- Apparently, there are going to be 1,600 people from Quebec at the game cheering for the Devils because they need an outlet to root against the B's. That should help the Bruins prepare for the Northern invasion by Habs fans next week.
- Most books have this game as a pick.
- The game starts at 3:00 PM ET and airs on NESN and 98.5 FM The Sports Hub (in case you have better things to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon). The Public Skate open thread starts at 2:30 PM ET.
- There is not much more to say about this pointless game.