Two Straight Road Games Welcome Bruins Back to Action

Okay hockey fans around New England, you can finally come out of hibernation. Six days after Sunday's big 4-1 win over New Jersey, the Boston Bruins are ready for a pair of road games on consecutive nights. On Saturday, the Bruins will begin their weekend with a visit to the Air Canada Centre, where they have won both of this season's previous meetings. Then, Boston will hop on a plane for Philadelphia in preparation for a Sunday night tilt with the Flyers. Despite trailing the season series 2-1, the Bruins were victorious in their lone previous trip to the City of Brotherly Love.Thanks to only playing two games in 12 days, things have changed somewhat significantly at the top of the Eastern Conference. The Boston Bruins still have the lead, but suddenly, they are the ones with the games in hand. Boston enters the weekend with a record of 46-17-10, which is good for 102 points with nine games remaining. Second place currently belongs to the Washington Capitals, who were able to sneak past the New Jersey Devils with a win over Tampa Bay on Friday. The Capitals have 46 wins and 99 points, but only have six games left on their schedule. That gives the Bruins three games in hand, which could theoretically turn their three-point edge into a nine-point lead if they take care of business. Because of an overtime loss in Chicago on Friday, the Devils are in third place with 47 wins and 98 points. New Jersey has played 74 games, giving Boston one in hand for the time being.Looking at this weekend's opposition, the Bruins will battle one team that has all but locked up a playoff spot, while the other club is preparing for next season.For a team that was supposed to be rebuilding all season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have exceeded a lot of expectations. At the beginning of the year, most fans in Toronto were hoping to finish toward the bottom of the standings, so that they would have the opportunity to draft John Tavares of the London Knights. However, the players have had other ideas. Through 75 games, the Maple Leafs are a .500 team, entering Saturday's game with a 31-31-13 record. Toronto leads Ottawa by one point for fourth place in the Northeast Division, but the Senators have a pair of games in hand and are 8-2 in their last ten. The Maple Leafs are 14-13-9 at the Air Canada Centre.After going winless in their first six contests (0-3-3) of the year, the Philadelphia Flyers have rebounded into the team that most expected to see. Philadelphia enters the weekend at 40-23-10, trailing New Jersey by eight points for the top spot in the Atlantic Division. If the playoffs began today, the Flyers would host the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. Philadelphia has compiled a 22-11-4 mark at the Wachovia Center, while the Bruins are 21-11-4 on enemy ice.Despite a disappointing 4-2 loss in the teams' first meeting of the season on October 23rd, the Bruins have pretty much had their say with the Maple Leafs. Boston has won each of the last four games against Toronto, including two on the Maple Leafs' home ice. The most recent game between the two clubs came back on January 21st, when the Bruins erased a 3-1 deficit for a 4-3 shootout victory at the Air Canada. Boston's other road victory was a 3-2 decision, while the two home wins were 5-2 and 8-5. Thanks to 38 goals in five games, the offensive totals in this season series are definitely on the high side. David Krejci and Marc Savard sit at the top of the list with seven points each. Six of Savard's seven points have come from assists, while Krejci has three goals and four assists for his seven. Blake Wheeler is the leading goal scorer with five, as he had a hat trick in the second meeting. Toronto's leading scorer is Jason Blake, who has three goals and one assist for four points. 35 players have recorded at least one point in the five games, with 19 on the Maple Leafs' side and 16 for the Bruins. Tim Thomas and Vesa Toskala have been the starting goaltenders for all five contests. Thomas is 4-1-0 with a .906 save percentage, while Toskala is 1-2-1 with an .872 save percentage. Manny Fernandez and Curtis Joseph each saw time in the 8-5 game, with Fernandez going 13-for-13, and Joseph stopping 12 of 16. Joseph suffered the loss, as he ultimately allowed the deciding goal. With Toskala hurt and Martin Gerber suspended, Justin Pogge is expected to start on Saturday for the Maple Leafs. Boston will likely play each goaltender once, as Fernandez hasn't started since March 8th.Moving over to the Philadelphia series, the road team has been in control, winning all three contests. Boston started out with a 3-1 win in Philadelphia on February 4th, before the Flyers responded with 4-3 and 4-2 victories at the TD Banknorth Garden. The first of those wins was decided by a Randy Jones goal in overtime. For the Bruins the line to keep an eye out for on Sunday will be the one consisting of Simon Gagne, Mike Knuble, and Mike Richards. Gagne and Knuble have each recorded four points in the Flyers' three games against Boston, while Richards has a pair of helpers. Gagne appears to be the most lethal of the three, as three of his four points have come from lighting the lamp. On the other side of the ice, if you are able to guess the Bruins' leading scorer in the season series, you get bonus points. The correct answer is Mark Stuart and his three assists. 15 members of the Bruins have picked up at least one point in the three games, while the Flyers have had 13 players contribute to the scoring. In goal, Tim Thomas defeated Martin Biron in the first meeting, before Antero Niittymaki responded with a pair of victories against Manny Fernandez in the last two.The Providence Bruins were on the ice on Friday, and for the fifth season in a row, the P-Bruins have amassed 40 wins. The 40th one was a 3-1 victory over the Manchester Monarchs at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. The scoring began at the 4:34 mark of the opening stanza, when Zach Hamill received a pass from Mikko Lehtonen and waited out Jonathan Bernier, before sliding a forehand shot around the Manchester netminder. Midway through the second period, the Peebs doubled their lead, as Johnny Boychuk rifled home his 20th goal of the season from Martin St. Pierre and Jeff Penner. The Monarchs cut the lead to one with a Vladimir Dravecky tally in the third, but Wacey Rabbit put the game away with an empty netter in the closing minutes. Brad Marchand got the primary assist on the goal, as he wiped out an icing call by beating a Manchester defender in a race for the puck. Boychuk picked up the other assist for his second point of the game. Tuukka Rask made 23 saves on 24 shots for his 58th regular season win in a Providence uniform. That gives him sole possession of second place on the all-time list. Jonathan Bernier suffered the loss for the Monarchs, despite stopping 30 of 32 shots.Both teams will be in action away from home on Saturday. The Boston Bruins have a 7:00 face-off against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre, while the Providence Bruins drop the puck at 7:00 against the Hartford Wolf Pack at the XL Center.