Bruins dinged up heading to Ottawa

The Bruins practiced this morning and the key word was injuries.

Two Bruins will return from injury, while three others will miss Tuesday's match up with Ottawa.

Phil Kessel (shoulder) and Shawn Thornton will be back in the lineup Tuesday night while PJ Axelsson, Dennis Wideman and Andrew Ference will all miss the tilt.

Axelsson and Wideman are said to be missing the game for some "maintenance" while Ference appears to have a significant injury. From what I am hearing here, Ference will probably miss the final four games of the regular season.

Claude Julien on Ference...

"Probably the worst of the bunch will be Andrew Ference. He's getting evaluated further today, so we can know the severity of the injury. A lot of the guys that aren't playing it's really just maintenance. There's nothing serious there."

*In an early move, Manny Fernandez has already been named the starter for the battle in the Canadien capital.

*While the Bruins were arriving in Ottawa, the Senators were in Montreal facing off against the Habs. The Senators defeated the Canadiens 3-2.

Here are your updated Eastern Conference Standings through Monday night

1 z-Boston: 112 pts (4 games remaining)

2 y-Washington: 104 pts (3 games remaining)

3 x-New Jersey: 102 pts (3 games remaining)

4 x-Philadelphia: 95 pts (4 games remaining)

5 x-Carolina: 95 pts (3 games remaining)

6 Pittsburgh: 93 pts (3 games remaining)

7 Montreal: 92 pts (3 games remaining)

8 NY Rangers: 89 pts (3 games remaining)

9 Florida: 89 pts (3 games remaining)

z= Conference Champion

y= Division Champion

x = Clinched Playoff Berth