The Bruins should not take Monday for granted.
After all, how often do you get help from both the Coyotes and Sabres? Don't think about that one too hard, 'cause the answer is almost never. In fact, before last night's dueling victories for the 'Yotes and Sabres, these two perennial basement-dwellers had won on the same night just five times this year. But more importantly, at least if we're speaking in regards to the Bruins, the Coyotes found a way to pull their win off against the East-best Lightning, while Jack Eichel and the Sabres downed the Maple Leafs up in Toronto.
This means that the Bruins head into Tuesday's head-to-head with the Jets just two points behind the Lightning (and with two games in hand) for first place in the Eastern Conference, and with a seven-point edge on the Leafs for second in the division. The latter means that the Bruins are essentially a win away from locking themselves into home-ice for the first round, and the former makes things extremely interesting, especially with two head-to-head with Tampa Bay remaining on the B's schedule.
A win tonight and the B's move into a tie for first in the Atlantic with 106 points, and would hold edge over the Bolts for first by virtue of having fewer games played than the Lightning. Hell, even if the Bruins lose tonight's game, they can still move into first place on Thursday should they win their head-to-head with the Bolts at TD Garden.
The Bruins also got an undeniable boost to their lineup on Sunday with the return of Patrice Bergeron and Torey Krug, and could get David Backes, Zdeno Chara, Jake DeBrusk, and/or Charlie McAvoy back by perhaps Thursday, at the earliest.
A more perfect scenario for the Bruins to officially grab hold of the top seed in the East and secure home-ice through at least the first three rounds, you could not dream up.
By now, it appears obvious that the Bruins can hold their own with just about any team in this league, so a first-round opponent may not make or break your hopes for this year's squad. But if given the choice of the East's 'worst' playoff team or a divisional rival you've had countless close games with, you'd have to be crazy not to elect for the former. Especially if it means that you have the Lightning and Leafs slugging it out in the first round, meaning that you could take on a slightly more battered bunch in round two.
But the Bruins would clearly prefer to focus their energy on anything but hypotheticals.
"Zero discussion about Tampa right now. The focus has been on us, our game. We got our hands full with Winnipeg," Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said after Tuesday's morning skate. "We haven't talked about the standings at all."
Anton Khudobin gets the start in the Boston crease.
The only real lineup change comes with a promotion up to the second line for Tommy Wingels, which will bump Brian Gionta down to the third line.
"This is just tinkering more than anything, more than a reflection on any individual," Cassidy said of the move. "We're kind of afforded that luxury right now. Tommy's had some good games and finished some plays. We'll see how he does out there."
Here are the projected lines and pairings for the Bruins…
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Ryan Donato - David Krejci - Tommy Wingels
Danton Heinen - Riley Nash - Brian Gionta
Tim Schaller - Sean Kuraly - Noel Acciari
Torey Krug - Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk - Kevan Miller
Nick Holden - Adam McQuaid
Anton Khudobin
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