After tonight's tilt there will be 8 games left in the regular season. Fucking crazy isn't it? It felt like yesterday that the NHL regular season was kicking off. And man, now we get to look forward to some playoff hockey in about two weeks. 

Or if we look at the past few games, the displeasure of looking forward to some playoff hockey. 

However it's not all gloom and doom in Boston. Look at the standings: 

So despite how this team has been playing, they're still one of the best (statistically) in the Eastern Conference. Do we have stuff to complain about? Absolutely. The defense is still a mess, the offense is hit or miss, the power play is hockey's version of a dumpster baby and injuries are starting to fester like we are a black and vegas gold team. 

Yet here we are, sitting in second place with a potential playoff preview tonight versus the Islanders. Yeah, the mother fucking Islanders. I love it that they are in the playoffs after such a miserable run this decade or twelve. 

So Boston comes home are nearly pooping their pants against New Jersey. Get ready for the excuses now if they lose. Injuires. Fatique. Etc, etc. With the Canadiens breathing down Boston's neck for the top spot in the division and second place in the East (and no more games between them), Boston needs to win hockey games. 

You think that this would be an understanding, but lately Boston has made a habit out of not showing up for big games. Look, the next 9 games are going to be considered big games. In the next nine games the Bruins: 

• Play a playoff team four times (Islanders, Senators, Penguins and Capitals)
• Play two teams they have bad history with (Philly, Buffalo)

It's going to be a hard run to the end of the playoffs and the injuries aren't helping, but there's some good news: 

Adam McQuaid is ready to return. Good chance we'll see him in the Bruins lineup tonight, per Julien.

— Naoko Funayama (@NaokoFunayama) April 11, 2013

But that's not the only gem Naoko tweeted today:

Patrice Bergeron is taking part in the optional morning skate today. #Bruins

— Naoko Funayama (@NaokoFunayama) April 11, 2013

This makes me so happy. Good to see Bergeron skating because it's the next step to making a full recovery. There is, however, no news on Brad Marchand. Apparently he's being checked out by doctors today and will more than likely not play tonight. 

After the jump the rest of the preview...

Another ugly win for the Bruins last night. Sure a win is a win is a win, two points is two points and all those sports cliches, but how many times have we seen the Bruins truly dominate a team this year? Once? Twice? They're on top of the Northeast Division and second in the Eastern Conference and they've done it by playing some pretty crappy and ugly hockey for most of the season. That's probably the most annoying and frustrating part we all know this team can do better. They're four points from the top seed and we're all bitching 'cause we know this team can be better. It's unreal.

The game started off awful with all the penatlies called against Boston but then they scored two shorties and Boychuk forced a short-handed penalty shot, so it looked great. And then the second period came and Bruins went back to turning the puck over and playing silly hockey. And when it became 4-3 we all thought Here we go again! and then Seguin scored and we felt slightly better and then Marty got pulled, Devils scored again and we thought Fuuuuuck, it's coming! Luckily it didn't.

Haven't heard anyone complain about Khudobin for letting in four goals but we hear complaints all the time when Tuukka lets in two. Not saying Khudobin is a bad goalie or the goals were all his fault. Not at all. Just amusing to see people have their targets on Tuukka for no real apparent reason. The "He hasn't proven himself" is the silliest complaint thrown at good goalies. Such an empty phrase.

But I digress...

Jagr looked fantastic. He has five points in his first four games with the Bruins. Paille has had one of his best season of his career (Thanks, Buffalo!) and even Andrew Ference is heating up int he point department. All good signs. Even Campbell's scoring now since he teamed up with Jagr. Who knew Double J was the missing piece to Soups career?

Bad sign is the taking the foot off the gas. The Bruins keep saying they gotta stop doing that but they never learn. We're 38 games into the 48 game season -- how many more fuck ups do they need?

Bruins also lost Brad Marchand to a wicked elbow to the head. He was battered and bruised all game and then Volchenkov gave him the coup de grace. Volchenkov has a phone hearing this morning with Brendan Shanahan. Should be a suspension (3-4 games our guess), but who knows anymore. He made no attempt to play the puck.

After the jump... the good, the bad and the lingering questions -- and a lot of Supernatural references....

In late March, we randoly received an e-mail from a woman who does marketing for a company that works with professional astrologists. This woman asked if we were interested in getting a professional astrologists reading on some Bruins players and their rivals. We thought it would interesting so we decided to go for it. We gave her this list:

Bruins:

Here is what she e-mailed back to us: 

Lately, it seems the Boston Bruins have been on the fickle end of fate’s hockey stick, having undergone some crucial lineup changes as the playoffs close in. Yet, that does not necessarily mean that the Bruins are down and out for the count. Looking to the stars, there is hope for the team to mount a comeback in the race for the Stanley Cup.

Astrology, the ancient study of using the stars and constellations present in the sky at the time of one’s birth, often serves as an accurate indicator of how those born under specific “signs” interact with one another, for better or worse. The way these signs mesh -- or clash -- with one another can help predict how the cards will fall or point to areas where teams and individuals should look to help elicit a positive outcome.

That said, let’s take a look at what’s in the stars for the Bruins and some of their rivals, shall we?

After the jump, the Bruins, Pens and Habs...

The Bruins went down to Jersey, they were looking for a win to seal.
They were in a bind 'cos they were way behind and was lookin' to make 1st real.
When they came across a Finn between the pipes and makin' it hot.
And the Marty hit the ice and said "Rask, lemme tell you what:
"I guess you didn't know it, but I'm a Hall of Famer, dude.
And if you'd care to lose right here, I'll be in debt to you.
Now you play a pretty good goalie boy, but give the old man his due:
I got a mask of gold against your soul that says I'm better than you."

The boy said "My name's Tuukka and it might be a sin,
"But I'll take your bet, you're gonna regret, 'cos I'm the best that's ever been"

Tuukka warm up your pads and turn that puck away
'Cos hell's broke loose in Jersey and the Devils are here to stay
And if you win you get two points and no one will ever scold
Plus you'll prove that Marty's just to old. 

Marty skated on the ice and said "I'll start this show."
And he turned those pucks away 'cos he is a pro.
Boston threw the pucks at him and Marty became pissed.
So the rest of the devils jumped in and looked something like this:

And when the dust settled, Tuukka said "You're pretty good old son.
"Sit down in that crease, right there, let me show you how it's done"

Fire on the scoreboard, run boys, run.
Bruins in the house, now it's time for fun.
Marty's inside his net, pickin' out pucks.
Lucic gonna run him cause he doesn't give a fuck.

Marty bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat.
And laid his golden mask on the ground at Tuukka's feet.
Tuukka said "Devils just come on back if you ever want to lose again.
"'cause I told you once, you son of a bitch, I'm the best there's ever been."

And there was fire on the scoreboard, run boys, run.
Bruins in the house, now it's time for fun.
Marty's inside his net picking out pucks.
Jagr to Marchand like they give a fuck. 

After the jump, the rest of the preview...

4/11/13 UPDATE: Holy shit, so apparently Carl Söderberg isn't coming to Boston after all. After everything was said and done, Sweden did not release Söderberg to play in the NHL. Stick tap to Erik for being awesome as usual. 

Carl Söderberg will not be released to the NHL, the Swedish Federation just announced. #twittpuck

— Marie Lehmann (@svtlehmann) April 11, 2013

We're pretty sure this is how everything went down today with the Swedish Federation: 

UPDATE: Apparently the Bruins have signed Söderberg to a 3 year contract. Per Darren Dreger: 

Pending final approval, Carl Soderberg could be in Boston by wknd. Soderberg and Bruins have agreed to a deal for this season, plus 2 more..

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 10, 2013

Bruins will pay Soderberg $600k this season (including signing bonus) and $1m per for next two seasons. #TSN

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 10, 2013

Now we just need to federation to sign off on this and it's a done deal. 

It seems that Carl Soderberg to Boston is a done deal. Our buddy Kirk Luedeke just tweeted this out. 

Done deal- Soderberg to Bruins happening & expect him in next 7 days (give or take) Appreciate all the new follows...

— Kirk Luedeke (@kluedeke29) April 9, 2013

For those who aren't in the know, the Bruins acquired Soderberg's rights in a trade with the St. Louis Blues, but he's never played an NHL game. Here's a quick breakdown of the type of player Boston will be getting from Eliteprospects.com: 

A rather complete and well-rounded player. Söderberg is a very talented and highly skilled center with good two-way ability. He has excellent hockey sense, decent nose for the net and fine playmaking ability. Release is good and so are his technical skills and creativity. Not the fastest of skaters, but feet are still pretty good. Controls the puck very comfortably with his reach. Valuable in short-handed situations.

This season Soderberg scored 31 goals in 54 games in the SEL, had 29 assists (60 points) and was a +8. Because he will be in Boston before the end of the regular season Soderberg will be eligible for the playoffs. 

When a team wins 6-2, you think that we'd be basking in a puddle of our own semen and happy tears, but when that team is the Carolina Hurricanes, I can't really pop a huge black and gold woody over it. Look, the Bruins are good at beating bad teams, that's what 4th place teams are supposed to do. You're supposed to beat shitty teams and Carolina is a shitty team. 

Look at their roster, it consists of Eric Staal, his brother, Semin stealing money, Cam Ward and a bunch of guys from Hockey Town. Seriously, with Semin and Ward injured, there's no way Boston should have lost to this team. And they didn't. After Tuukka Rask bailed these guys out for 10 minutes in the first period (again), the Bruins picked it up and took off. 

I mean we can make a big deal of Claude's new lines and say that they worked, but can we get a real goalie test before we go anointing Claude the master of the line combinations? I mean, I'm not sure Justin Peters and Dan Ellis are the NHL "quality" I want to compare my lines to. 

I know I'm overly negative, but lets be real. It's the fucking Carolina Hurricanes. Yes 2 points is 2 points, but when you beat down the Hurricanes and Devils and poop your pants in Montreal, it really speaks to the type of team you are. 

After the jump, the real meat of the recap...

There weren't many highlights in the Bruins-Habs game, but Alexei Emelin taking a run at Milan Lucic was one of them.

Pro Tip: If you see Milan Lucic barreling his way down the ice at top speed the worst thing you can do is throw your body in front of it.

Emelin earned himself a sweet torn knee ligament and is out for the year. Emelin was the dude who broke his stick cross-checking Tyler Seguin's ribs and then Chara went bezerker on. Good times.

No word if Habs fans will Call 911 and ask the Montreal police to arrest Milan Lucic for attempted murder.

It's a good things I was distracted Saturday night by the awesome time had at the Days of Y'Orr/Boston Sports Then and Now/Bruins Daily Viewing Party because if I was home I'd have to write some of sort recap while I was shitfaced. Usually they come out awesome, but I'm pretty sure that if I wrote it while drinking the creature my laptop would have been thrown out of the window. 

Saturday night in Montreal was a disgrace, especially when it came down to that final minute. Yeah you remember the final minute right? If not, I'll paint the picture for you: Boston was down 2-1 with about a minute left and on a power play. Claude Julien called a timeout (gasp!) and got the right combination on the ice (Seguin-Jagr-Marchand-Krejci-Chara) for a full minute of 6-on-4 power play time. 

When the final horn sounded, the Bruins didn't have one shot on goal during that entire minute. THEY DID NOT HAVE 1 SHOT ON GOAL and then David Krejci, after the game, says it was "shit ice". No, it wasn't shit ice, it was shit play. This team is so fucking atrocious at times it makes me want to throw up all over myself. 

So with that embarrassing loss behind them, Claude Julien does what every good coach would do; switch up his lines. Except these lines are fucking terrible: 

GOO!

Who the hell thought that this was a good idea? LOOK AT IT! Why is Greg Campbell centering Brad Marchand and Jaromir Jagr? Why is Jay Pandolfo playing? Why is Lucic STILL on the first line WHEN HE HAS SCORED 1 GOAL IN 20+ GAMES?! 

Good god. The good thing is that Carolina is rolling into town and they're as bad as any team in the bottom of the East. It's a good thing that they're currently 13th in the Eastern Conference and have such a slim shot at making the playoffs. Maybe they won't show up because they have nothing to play for? 

That's probably not correct because Boston never shows up when they have something to play for. 

It's maddening how bad this team can be. Sometimes they look like world beaters and sometimes they look like the world just curb stomped them. Maybe I'm getting extreme here or maybe my expectations are to high or maybe I'm just a typical Boston fan. Either way, this is complete horseshit. This team is better than what they've portrayed themselves as in March and the beginning of April. 

Isn't it amazing what one player can mean to a club? Patrice Bergeron is Mr. Bruin and this injury proves it. Since he's been down and out with a "moderate" concussion the Bruins lines have been a disaster. God I miss Bergeron already. 

But hey, Chris Kelly and his atrocious play is back in the lineup. For some reason, people cite Chris Kelly coming back as a good thing. I'm sorry, but does everyone remember how fucking terrible Chris Kelly, Rich Peverley and Ray Bourque lucky sperm played together? Or how bad Chris Kelly, Rich Peverley and Jordan Caron played together outside of the first game Caron was called up? 

Am I the only one who remembers this? Am I the only one who remembers how fucking awful he was? How he was the direct reason for an Eric Staal goal earlier in the season because he waited...

And waited...

And waited...

And then passed it into Staal's skates? 

Glad that guy is coming back tonight. Jesus Christ these fucking lines tonight. I need a drink. 

Last night we saw Jaromir Jagr get dropped down to play with Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell because of reasons, or as Claude Julien calls it -- defense first. From CSNNE:

“This is a big game and [Montreal] is a good team that’s very good in the offensive zone,” said Julien. “I don’t think Tyler was ready for that. So I had to put a centerman there with some experience, and put [Seguin] back on the wing. I thought [Jagr] had a good night with Campbell and Paille, two guys that work hard. I thought it stabilized three lines, but one line didn’t give us much.

So the lines got all fucked up 'cause of it. Sure, Campbell and Paille worked hard with Jagr. Those two always work hard; no denying that. But their offensive talent isn't on the same level as Seguin or Marchand or Horton or Krejci. And Boston lost 2-1 'cause of it, though it could've easily been 0-0 the way those goals were scored.

But Julien isn't quite done yet. He shook up the lines for practice this morning and they are... well... something special, for sure.

White: Lucic-Krejci-Horton/Gold: Marchand-Campbell-Jagr/Grey: Paille, Seguin, Pandolfo, Kelly/Merlot:Thornton, Caron, Peverley, Daugavins^CS

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 7, 2013

Yikes. Seguin with Paille and Pandolfo? Why even bother suiting Seguin up at all? Peverly on Merlot? Jesus...

If anyone needed more evidence that Patrice Bergeron is the keystone of the Boston Bruins offense, look at those lines. You're not going to win many games with those lines, especially with White Line there is so streaky this season. And to think of how filthy the lines could be if Bergeron is back healthy and they snag Soderberg.

This is gonna be a super duper short game preview 'cause Team DOY will be at Blogapolooza all afternoon and then at the Harp for tonight's Viewing Party. Come on out.

There'll be a trivia contest to win prizes, too.

Obviously this is a huge game standings wise for the Bruins and Habs. Bruins are one point back of the Habs and with a game in hand. A win gives them the Northeast Division lead. Habs have been beating most people's expectations this year, too, so tonight will be a battle. 

Tonight will also give Jaromir Jagr his first taste of the Bruins-Habs rivavlry. He wanted to sign with Montreal, so the fact that he's with Boston now is amusing. Nice job, Chia. Jagr basically was playing on two hours of sleep against the Devils the other night. We're stoked for what a well rested Jagr can do with Seguin and Marchand as line mates.