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First and foremost, the Bruins need to take care of business against the Ottawa Senators tomorrow afternoon. We all know that.
However, they also need help. Namely, they need the New York Rangers to beat the Detroit Red Wings (or lost to them in a shootout) and the Pittsburgh Penguins to beat the Philadelphia Flyers (in any fashion).
The problem is, neither of those Metro teams has anything to play for. It looks like their lineups are reflecting that:
NYR won't have McDonagh, Girardi, Zuccarello or Stalberg tomorrow and Lundqvist won't start. Everything is coming up Red Wings right now.
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) April 8, 2016
Woof.
You could actually argue that things are better for the Rangers if they lose tomorrow: losing ensures that they finish in the first Wild Card spot, earning them a date with the Florida Panthers.
It's not outside the realm of possibility that the Rangers would prefer that match-up over the alternative: finishing third in the Metro and facing the Penguins in the first round.
The Penguins have absolutely nothing to play for tomorrow, aside from ruining Philly's season (which, it stands to reason, they'd love to do).
Reports have been circulating, unconfirmed, that Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury won't be suiting up tomorrow.
If that's the case, it'd probably be Jeff Zatkoff, he of the 2.78 GAA and .917 save percentage, starting on the road in Philly.
Fortunately, the Rangers should have Massachusetts heroes Keith Yandle, Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider in the lineup.
DO IT FOR THE HOMETOWN TEAM, FELLAS.