The updated playoff picture

How about this weekend for the hometown team, eh?

A solid if unspectacular win Saturday followed by one of the more impressive wins of year yesterday, and all of a sudden the Bruins are back in the playoff driver's seat.

They got some help this weekend as well, with Ottawa losing in regulation and Tampa losing in OT on Saturday.

The B's currently find themselves in second in the Atlantic, but it's misleading: both Toronto and Ottawa sit a point behind and have two games in hand.

Both teams are in action tonight, with Toronto playing Buffalo and Ottawa playing Detroit.

The Bruins shouldn't expect much help there, but hey...go Jack Eichel! Hooray Hockeytown!

The real bonus for the Bruins was Tampa's OTL to Montreal (thank you, based Claude).

By virtue of that squandered point, the Bruins can eliminate Tampa from contention with a regulation win tomorrow night.

A win would give the Bruins a six-point cushion; Tampa would only have three games left and would lose the ROW tie-breaker even if they won out and the Bruins lost out.

If Ottawa continues to falter, the Bruins could solidify their grip on an Atlantic spot Thursday night, avoiding a first-round date with Washington.

If nothing else, the Bruins have stepped up when it counts thus far. While nothing is certain, they're in a spot to clinch in their own building tomorrow.

After the last two seasons, we'll take it.