It's finally here: Boston vs. Carolina set to begin tomorrow night

Today the Bruins had their last practice before Friday night's game six. The Canes also prepped for the tilt.

Here are your expected lines for game one.

CAROLINA-

Ray Whitney - Eric Staal - Chad LaRose

Tuomo Ruutu - Matt Cullen - Erik Cole

Sergei Samsonov - Rod Brind'Amour - Patrick Eaves

Ryan Bayda - Jussi Jokinen - Scott Walker

Tim Gleason - Joe Corvo

Joni Pitkanen - Dennis Seidenberg

Niclas Wallin - Anton Babchuk

Cam Ward

Michael Leighton

BOSTON-

P.J. Axelsson - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel

Mark Recchi - Patrice Bergeron - Chuck Kobasew

Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Michael Ryder

Shawn Thornton - Stephane Yelle - Wheeler/Bitz

Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward

Andrew Ference - Dennis Wideman

Mark Stuart - Montador/Hnidy

Tim Thomas

Manny Fernandez

By the indication of the way things have gone the last few practices, Andrew Ference should be back against the Hurricanes. Here is what Claude Julien said about Ference's availability in game one.

"We're going to make a gameday decision," said Julien when questioned about Andrew Ference. "There's no reason to say yay or nay now, we'll give him another day. "We want him to come in at 100% - nothing less. He seems pretty good, so if he's 100% tomorrow he's going to be in,"
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Now, with Eric Staal rolling right now, the Hurricanes main man should expect to see a lot of Zdeno Chara. Chara is always on the ice for Boston's opponents top scorer, and in this series a lot may weigh on the Chara and Staal battle.

Staal had the following to say about matching up with Big Z.

"It's a challenge," Staal said of the match up. "He's a big man. He's obviously got a great reach and is real strong in the corners. I've got to make sure I rely on my speed and my legs. Try and get him turning and twisting and doing thing he's not comfortable with. Rely on maybe a little more quickness than power. Keep it simple. It's going to be competitive. He's a competitive guy. So am I. I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Let's get it on!

Boston ready to tangle with Carolina Friday night

The boys came to work today finally knowing their second round opponent. The Bruins were all in good spirits and were excited to know when their second round series would begin.

A lot has been made of Boston's 4-0 record against Carolina this season, however, head coach Claude Julien said that it does not mean a thing.

Julien said, "They have found the sweet spot of their game since finishing their games against us."

Here were today's lines at practice.

P.J. Axelsson - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel

Mark Recchi - Patrice Bergeron - Chuck Kobasew

Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Michael Ryder

Shawn Thornton - Stephane Yelle - Wheeler/Bitz

Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward

Andrew Ference - Dennis Wideman

Mark Stuart - Montador/Hnidy

Tim Thomas

Manny Fernandez

The Bruins worked on the Power Play quite a bit and here were the lines.

PP1: Zdeno Chara, Dennis Wideman, Marc Savard, Michael Ryder, Mark Recchi.

PP2: Steve Montador/Andrew Ference, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Phil Kessel, Chuck Kobasew.

* Andrew Ference is likely to play in Friday's Game 1. Ference has been out since April 4.

Bruins get Hurricanes in Round two

The Boston Bruins will face-off with the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Semi Finals, begining Friday night at the Garden.

Yes, the wait has been long but the Boston fans can yet again get ready for another exciting series out of their Bruins. The faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday evening.

My playoff predictions can be seen at www.myspace.com/bruinspace or by simply reading below.

Eastern Conference:

Boston over Carolina in 6 games

Washington over Pittsburgh in 7 games

Western Conference:

Detroit over Anaheim in 6 games

Vancouver over Detroit in 7 games

One option down, two to go

The Washington Capitals just defeated the New York Rangers, 2-1.

With this result the Bruins will now either play the Pittsburgh Penguins or Carolina Hurricanes.

The Bruins will play the Penguins is New Jersey defeats Carolina and Carolina if the Hurricanes can get past the Devils tonight.

The Devils currently lead the Canes, 3-2 after two periods.

We'll have more when we know, which will probably within the hour.

Thomas nominated for the Vezina

Today we learned that Boston goaltender, Tim Thomas was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, given annually to the NHL's top goalie.

The other finalists are Minnesota’s Nicklas Backstrom and Columbus’s Steve Mason.

Here is how the goalies compare.

Nicklas Backstrom:

Record: 37-24-8

GAA: 2.33

Save %: .923

Steve Mason:

Record: 33-20-7

GAA: 2.29

Save %: .916

Tim Thomas:

Record: 36-11-7

GAA: 2.10

Save %: .933

To view a few of these goalies great stops this season, click the link below.

http://www.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=23&id=40793

It's the waiting game for the Bruins

So, all of us are looking to see who the Bruins will play in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and there are no answers at this point.
The up to the minute playoff results are as follows.

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

Boston defeats Montreal 4-0

Pittsburgh defeats Philadelphia 4-2
Washington and New York tied 3-3

New Jersey and Carolina tied 3-3

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

Detroit defeats Columbus 4-0

Vancouver defeats St. Louis 4-0

Anaheim leads San Jose 3-2

Chicago leads Calgary 3-2

The Possibilities...

*The Bruins will play the Rangers if New York defeats Washington in game 7.

*Boston will play Carolina if Carolina defeats New Jersey in game 7 and Washington defeats New York in their game 7.

*Boston will play Pittsburgh if Washington defeats New York in game 7 and New Jersey defeats Carolina in their game 7.

OK, so we still have three possibilities here. The answers will come this week for the black and gold and where their opponent will come from.

Boston and Montreal could spice things up in game four

Hello Bruins fans,

Here's your day before game four tidbits.

Here's a message from your front office VP and playing legend. Some of your know him as Seabass, the rest of you know him as Cam Neely.
Click the link below to see Cam Neely's recap of game three and thoughts on the upcoming game four.http://bruins.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=955&id=40405
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As most of you know, the Habs fans did it again last night, and booed our National Anthem. No, not "nutty" (the Bruins old unofficial anthem for the confused) but the United States of America's anthem. It begs the question, are the Canadien fans dumb? Do they not know that they are booing the United States of America and NOT the Bruins? Apparently not. Here is Bob Gainey's response when asked

* "I feel like there's a confusion there with the fans," Gainey said of pockets of the Bell Centre booing the American national anthem last night. "They feel like booing the anthem is supporting our team in that the anthem represents the Boston team. If they can separate those two things and respect the anthem of the United States of America, they can still participate loudly and in whatever they want to disrupt the Bruins."

Finally, a player status update from today's skate.

*Milan Lucic will be back in the lineup tomorrow night against the Habs, most likely taking Byron Bitz's spot.

*Andrew Ference will miss game four but took a quick spin around the ice for the first time. Ference is hoping to be able to return for Boston's potential second round series.

And Finally,

The Bruins are one game away from eliminating the Canadiens and I think that game four has the potential to be a blood bath. If the Canadiens are behind in the third period, look for them to start taking their final shots at the Bruins. Look for Mike Komisarek to make a run at Milan Lucic and George Laroque to be making a run at everyone. The Bruins will hope it ends this way as that will mean the match has been set.

And now finally to update how things are going in the other playoff rounds...

New York (7) leads 2-1 over Washington (2)

New Jersey (3) tied 2-2 with Carolina (6)

Pittsburgh (4) leads 3-1 over Philadelphia (5)

Anaheim (8) leads 2-0 over San Jose (1)

Detroit (2) leads 3-0 over Columbus (7)

Vancouver (3) leads 3-0 over St Louis (6)

Chicago (4) leads 2-1 over Calgary (5)

The dagger has been inserted: Bruins up 3-0 in series

The dagger has been inserted into the Habs heart, now it's time to twist it. The Bruins were up for the Bell Centre tonight and the end result was win number three of a necessary four.

The beat goes on, Milan Lucic out, Byron Bitz in. Bitz was a factor in the game and made a great play along the wall to set up Shawn Thornton for Boston's second goal. It shows the Bruins depth and that no matter who is in there, Boston is a better team than Montreal.

The Bruins will try to wrap up the series Wednesday night at the Bell Centre. What a great feeling it would be if the Bruins could do it in Montreal, in the very place the Bruins season ended last year.

We'll be all over it Wednesday night if the B's wrap it up with our series reaction vlog.

Bruins Goal Scorers:

Phil Kessel (3)

Michael Ryder (2)

Chuck Kobasew (2)

Shawn Thornton (1)

Bruins take 1-0 lead over Canadiens

The Boston Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens in front of an amped up TD Banknorth Garden tonight and took an early series lead.

Now, how it happened was a different story. The Bruins had to score a third period goal in the latter half of the period to beat the Habs tonight. The goal couldn't have come from anyone better, as the captain, Zdeno Chara ripped a slap shot past Carey Price.

The game was physical but the gloves were not dropped. At least, not in the way of a one-on-one fight. There were a lot of circles and pushing and shoving but no throw downs in game one, as expected.

The formula for the Bruins all season came out tonight, and why not? All year long the young talent was a big key to Boston's success and they came through in a big way tonight. The Bruins goal scorers were Chara, and then the youngin's, Phil Kessel (2) and David Krejci.

The game was a back and forth affair, and Montreal had plenty of chances to win the game in the third period, however, Boston stayed strong and took the contest.

Then there was Tim Thomas who stopped 26 of 28 shots and made some traditional Tim Thomas nifties in the win. Thomas made some sprawling saves and kept the Bruins out in front for good.

The Bruins are next in action Saturday night at the Garden. The Garden will be jumping on Saturday as the Celtics will take on the Chicago Bulls on Saturday afternoon at 12:30. The Bruins of course will face off with the Habs later on, at 8:00 p.m.

What did you think of that one Boston?

Mark Recchi to chat with fans Wednesday

From BostonBruins.com--

Rinkside Chats presented by Covidien return on Wednesday with Boston Bruins winger Mark Recchi. Acquired at the trade deadline, Recchi has been a huge addition to the Black & Gold lineup. Chat with him at 3:00 p.m.

Bergeron looking good, Ference not so much

OK everyone, here are your Tuesday, Bruins practice notes.

There were some injured Bruins that have missed the last two regular season games, and their status was in question before today. We now have some answers.

*Patrice Bergeron, sidelined the last two games because of an injured right foot, is ready to go Thursday night. Bergeron believes he will be at 100%.

* Andrew Ference remains day-to-day, according to Claude Julien.

However, BruinSpace is hearing that Andrew Ference has been ruled out for game one and is doubtful for game two. The injury prospectus has been compared to that of Detroit forward, Kris Draper who has been named out for games one and two of the Red Wings series against Columbus.

Ference has not skated since being injured against the New York Rangers, 10 days ago.

*Vladimir Sobotka, brought up on emergency recall last week, has been assigned to Providence. This would mean that both Bergeron and Axelsson are ready for Thursday night.

The team already has Byron Bitz as a spare forward.

Today's lines in practice...

Wheeler/Axelsson - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel

Mark Recchi - Patrice Bergeron - Chuck Kobasew

Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Michael Ryder

Shawn Thornton - Yelle - Byron Bitz

Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward

Matt Hunwick - Dennis Wideman

Mark Stuart - Hnidy/Montador

Tim Thomas

Manny Fernandez

Bruins mismatched in Buffalo without five starters

Your Boston Bruins looked like a team that was on cruise control. Cruise control may be on display tomorrow also as the Bruins will face the Islanders in the regular season finale.

The Bruins played without, Zdeno Chara, Andrew Ference, Phil Kessel, Patrice Bergeron and PJ Axellson.

Bergeron of course is out tomorrow as well as he has a swollen foot. Bergeron took a shot off the foot Thursday night and was told to take the weekend off. Bergeron's foot was still hurting on Friday so there was no need to rush Bergeron back.

So, without a lot of key components, the B's lost 6-1 today in Buffalo. They looked terrible, but with the playoffs kicking off Thursday, there is no need to push it.

*With Boston's loss today the San Jose Sharks have clinched the Presidents' Trophy (best regular-season record).

Today's goal scorers:

Buffalo:

Thomas Vanek: (39,40)

Tim Connelly: (18)

Daniel Paille: (12)

Matt Ellis: (7)

Chris Butler: (2)

Boston:

Mark Recchi (23)

Boston will wrap up their season tomorrow at 5 p.m. when they will skate against the New York Islanders on the island.

In a potential playoff preview update, Montreal is tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second period. If the Habs lose in regulation than they will be the Bruins first round opponent. If they win, or lose in overtime or shoot out and gain a point we will have to wait until tomorrow.

New York plays tomorrow against the Flyers at 5 p.m. The Rangers and Canadiens both have 93 points, with New York holding the tie breaker.

REPORT: Boston to host 2010 NHL Winter Classic

A report out of the Boston Herald says the Boston Bruins will host next season's NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park against an unnamed opponent.

Boston has apparently beat out bids by the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers for the 2010 game, which will be played on New Year's Day.

Look for the game to be played against the Montreal Canadiens. This of course is one of the biggest rivalries in hockey and would bring in a U.S. and Canadien audience. The other team rumored was the Rangers, but with New York in the running for the 2011 game, they are probably out.

Kobasew joins list of the wounded

*Yet another Bruin missed practice today. This time is was winger, Chuck Kobasew who was out.

Claude Julien was asked if Kobasew was hurt significantly or was it just a maintenance day for Chucky. ''Yeah, it's a maintenance day,'' said Julien.

It is not known whether or not a replacement will need to be called up from Providence for Kobasew, however, it is unlikely.

* PJ Axelsson, Dennis Wideman and Andrew Ference did not practice also.

Ference of course, is out for the remainder of the regular season while Axelsson and Wideman are doubtful against Thursday night's tilt with the Habs.

*Tim Thomas is expected to be in goal when the Bruins face the Habs tomorrow night at 7 p.m. from the Garden.

Ottawa ends Boston's six game win streak

The Ottawa Senators dumped the Boston Bruins 3-2 tonight from Canada's capital. The Bruins will now come home to play their Garden finale against the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night.

Boston fell behind early and never recovered. It was Christoph Schubert who potted the games first goal on a deflection. Schubert's slap shot deflected off of Steve Montador's stick and over Manny Fernandez's shoulder for a 1-0 Ottawa lead.

The lead would expand half way through the first period when Mike Fisher scored on the short hand. The goal was Fisher's 13th and gave Ottawa a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room after one stanza.

In his first game back after resting up an apparent shoulder injury, Phil Kessel was able to net his 32nd goal on the rebound. Marc Savard put the rubber on net and after Kessel's second whack, the puck found its way past Alex Auld.

As the period wound on, Marc Savard was sent to the box and his good friend, and in this case Bruins enemy, Dany Heatley scored on the power play to make it 3-1 Senators. The one timer was a shot that Manny Fernandez would like to have back.

Then, with just nine seconds left in the second period, the Bruins were able to score on a power play of their own. It was Zdeno Chara's 18th of the season on a blue line blast. The goal gave the Bruins some much needed momentum heading into the third period.

The third period came and went and Boston was not able to put anything past Auld. The Senators were able to extend their home winning streak to nine games, while the Bruins lost for the first time in seven games.

Ference out for remainder of regular season

As we speculated last night after it was said Andrew Ference would not make the trip to Ottawa, Ference will miss the final four games of the regular season.Claude Julien said Ference will be re-evaluated prior to the start of the playoffs. Ference was injured against the Rangers on Saturday.

Tonight's lineup: Based on pre-game warmups:

Blake Wheeler - Marc Savard - Phil Kessel

Mark Recchi - Patrice Bergeron - Chuck Kobasew

Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Michael Ryder

Shawn Thornton - Stephane Yelle - Byron Bitz

Zdeno Chara - Aaron Ward

Matt Hunwick - Steve Montador

Mark Stuart - Shane Hnidy

Manny Fernandez

Tim Thomas

* Alex Auld (15-18-6, 2.50 GAA, .910 save percentage) will start in goal for the Senators.

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

Bruins Clinch Conference Title

Congratulations to the 2008-2009 Eastern Conference Champions, the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins will have home ice advantage in every series they play until the Stanley Cup Finals.

The B's still have something to play for over their final four games as they are currently one point behind the San Jose Sharks for the overall best record in the league.

Race for the Presidents trophy,

1 San Jose: 113 pts (4 games remaining)

2 Boston: 112 pts (4 games remaining)

Now let's look at the playoff picture as of 5:17 on Sunday afternoon.

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 (4 games remaining)

7 Montreal: 92 pts (4 games remaining)

8 NY Rangers: 89 pts (3 games remaining)

9 Florida: 87 pts (4 games remaining)

10 Buffalo: 85 pts (4 games remaining)

z= Clinched Conference

y= Clinched Division

x= Clinched Playoff Berth

Thomas officially inks deal on day Bruins look to clinch Conference crown

*After signing his new huge deal, Tim Thomas will be in between the pipes today against the New York Rangers in a potential first round playoff preview.




With a win, or overtime loss, the Bruins will clinch the Eastern Conference.


* Phil Kessel and Shawn Thornton will be out of the lineup again today. Both should be back next week.


*Aaron Ward will not play today because of an undisclosed injury. According to Claude Julien, Ward suffered the injury on Thursday against Ottawa. Julien said the injury is not serious and that he expects Ward to play on Tuesday against the Senators.


~ Now from my expert take on the situation I am guessing it is a hand injury for Ward-o. He was seen shaking his hand on the bench after taking a shot off the mitt on a penalty kill.


*Steve Montador, will take Ward's spot in the lineup. It looks like Montador will skate on the fourth line and Matt Hunwick will take his spot on the blue line.

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Tim Thomas had a press conference this morning to discuss his new four year, $20 million deal.Some quotes from Tim Thomas' press conference this morning.

*Why stay in Boston?

"You have to think about, 'Would you rather go someplace else, or would you rather stay in Boston?' After weighing things over, over, and over, the answer always kept coming back Boston," said Thomas. "It's a great place to play. Great teammates. Great fans. I'm very happy to be looking at the next four years in Boston."

*On the length of the deal at his age, and the end of his career.

"I've never really felt like it was close," Thomas said of the end of his career. "I still don't feel like it's close. I still feel like it's a long ways away."

*Chiarelli on the cap numbers and trying to keep the team in tact."I'd like to sign everyone, but we have to make decisions over the summer," Chiarelli said. "We'll look at the performance of players, then we do the math. We've been doing the math from the time I've come here. That's a large part of the job. What is important to the organization is that we have terrific goal tending for a long time. Sometimes you have to put aside the math -- not completely -- and make the decisions like we did with Tim."

*Thomas on his thoughts of the deal?

"In hindsight, I'd have to say everything worked out perfectly," said Thomas. "Here I am in a great hockey town and in a great situation. I'm looking forward to the next four years, playing in that hockey town and for that organization. I'd have to say everything worked out as it should have."

Signing Tim Thomas brings more questions than answers?

Well, as all of you know by now Tim Thomas has been resigned with the Boston Bruins for four more years. This deal will extend until the end of the 2012-2013 season and Thomas will be 39 years old at deals end.

The deal is for $20 million over four years and is top heavy. Thomas will make $6 million over the next two seasons, $5 million in year three and $3 million in year four.

Now at first thought you say to yourself, wow this is fantastic. We are locking up a top goaltender in the NHL for four more years. Of course there is also the angle that nobody deserves this more than a long time journeyman like Thomas. However, maybe not so fast.

This year the Bruins have been able to take the top seed in the conference thanks to their young talent and great top six forwards. Yes, the defense and Thomas have been stellar but the forwards need to get a lot of credit. Last year the Bruins were challenged when it came to putting the puck in the net. Now, not so much.

So, as big a Bruins fan as I am I decided to do some homework. Now, remember those young guys that everyone has been raving about? The ones where everyone has said, hey the Bruins youth will keep us good for years to come, remember them?

Well, yes the may be young but, they're not that young. They have reached the point in their careers where they can enter free agency.

For example, this summer Phil Kessel, Daivd Krejci and Matt Hunwick will be restricted free agents. Then in the summer after the 2009-2010 campaign you will have Marc Savard, Milan Lucic, Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler ready to test the free agent waters.

Those players are your top six forwards and then there is Hunwick who could be a top four defensemen on this team for years to come. If you are locking up Thomas for $6 million per over the next two seasons than needless to say, half of these guys are out.

Then it comes to the big two this summer, Krejci and Kessel. Who do you sign? The Bruins are tight against the cap as it is, and with this signing it looks like signing both may have flown by the wayside.

Then what about in the year after this, when it is Lucic and Wheeler up for a renewal? Not to mention Savard, Ryder and a guy like Andrew Ference.

Now, I know this is a cap era and every team faces these issues, but the young talent is supposedly how we have come this far correct? How can we keep the young guns like Kessel, Krejci, Lucic and Wheeler in tact if $6 million is tied up in Thomas?

Then there is Tuukka Rask, the man who is supposedly ready to become the Bruins goalie of the future. Apparently Peter Chiarelli doesn't think so as Rask will now be looking at backing up Thomas over the next four seasons, at oh by the way, almost $3 million a year.

Now, don't get me wrong I like Tim Thomas as much as the next guy, but doesn't this signing create some very interesting questions come July 1?

The hot stove will no doubt be sizzling this summer for the Bruins as they may have to do some wheeling and dealing to make sure they can salvage keeping their young core in tact.

Thomas deal, four years for $20 million

The Boston Globe is reporting that Tim Thomas' deal is for four years and a total of $20 million.

From the Globe:

According to a front-office member of an NHL team, Tim Thomas has signed a four-year, $20 million extension. Thomas will make $6 million in 2009-10 and 2010-11, $5 million in 2011-12, and $3 million in 2012-13.

Thomas earned $1.1 million in each of the last three seasons. Thomas is scheduled to speak at a press conference tomorrow.

REPORT: Bruins re-sign Thomas

It looks like John Buccigross' Boston roots have finally helped ESPN break a hockey story.

Buccigross and Matt Barnaby reported on ESPN SportsCenter that the Bruins will call a press conference this weekend to announce an agreement on an extension with goalie Tim Thomas.

The extension is expected to be for three years. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

More to come as details come available.

UPDATE: It looks like Thomas' deal is going to be in the neighborhood of $5.2 million a year. For a comparison, that is the money that Martin Brodeur makes currently. Brodeur is currently the 11th highest paid goalie in the NHL. That would give you a feel for where Thomas will be paid in terms of starters in the league.

The deal should be confirmed tomorrow morning before the Bruins face-off against the New York Rangers.

Bruins double up Senators for 50th win

The Bruins defeated the Ottawa Senators Thursday night at the Garden by a 2-1 final. Before the puck even dropped on tonight's game, David Krejci was a winner. A winner of the Bruins '7th Player Award,' voted on by the fans.

The Senators were here to play, however, as just over five minutes into the game, the Ottawa Captain lit the lamp. Daniel Alfredsson used a screen in front of the net to beat Tim Thomas for his 24th goal of the season.

With the Senators out in front by a goal, things were pretty restless heading into the first period intermission.

Early in the second period, Boston got things turned around when Milan Lucic ripped a wicked slap shot past Alex Auld. Lucic's snipe was his 17th of the season.

In the final minutes of the middle stanza, Jarkko Ruutu took a run at Tim Thomas and his teammates didn't like it. Especially, one PJ Axelsson. Yes, Axelsson, who is not known for being a tough guy, jumped on Ruutu and then others joined. Shane Hnidy was the guy who ended up looking for blood, but the officials stepped to brake up the fracas.

Boston came out for the third period and quickly took it to the Senators. Just three minutes into the third, it was Marc Savard netting his 24th goal of the season on a nice feed from Axelsson.

After the Bruins took the one goal lead, it was Ottawa who carried the rest of the third period play. However, the Senators were not able to beat Thomas.

Then with 1:55 to play in the game, Mark Recchi went to the box and Ottawa pulled Auld for a six-on-four advantage. The Bruins were able to hold off the Senators, as Thomas made a great save on Alfredsson with just seconds remaining for a Boston, 2-1 win.

The win gave Boston their 50th of the season and moved the Bruins magic number to one for clinching the Eastern Conference. The Bruins are nine points up on the Washington Capitals with five games to go.

The Eastern Conference is a lot more interesting at the bottom of the conference.

Here's a look...

1) Boston - 110 points (5 games remaining)

2) Washington - 101 points (5 games remaining)

3) New Jersey - 98 points (5 games remaining)

4) Carolina - 93 points (4 games remaining)

5) Philadelphia - 92 points (6 games remaining)

6) Pittsburgh - 92 points (5 games remaining)

7) Montreal - 90 points (5 games remaining)

8) New York - 89 points (4 games remaining)

9) Florida - 87 points (5 games remaining)