The Bruins beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 to clinch a playoff spot.

Now all we have to worry about is what place the Bruins end up... and what place the Montreal Canadiens end up.

Tracy informs me that the Bruins can take 6th place if they get at least one point against the Buffalo Sabres tomorrow.

But first, let's celebrate the clinched spot!

And hats off to Vladimir Sobotka's hard work on the last shift, keeping possession of the puck in the Senators zone.

Zdeno Chara and Phil Kessel scored the goals in tonight's win.

And in case you're really wondering, the Red Sox lost.

Since the Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes, the Bruins can clinch a playoff spot with at least one point tonight.

The Bruins currently lead the Ottawa Senators 2-0.

Don't exhale just yet.

Oh, and the Senators clinched a spot because the Hurricanes lost.

7 minutes left

Senators cut the lead in half, getting on the scoreboard. It's 2-1 with over 7 minutes left.

This might be the longest 7 minutes ever.

With my personal life settling down and hopefully me getting back into my apartment today, I am completely focused and committed to the last three Bruins games of the season. But before we look ahead, let’s look back.

Stand By Me

The Bruins were sitting in the eighth playoff spot sandwiched between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals. As of today, the Bruins are in a tie with the Flyers. The Flyers and Bruins have 91 points. The Flyers and Bruins have identical records.

The Bruins are one point behind the Ottawa Senators and two points behind the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, who won in overtime last night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. With one game left against each team, as well as the Buffalo Sabres, the Bruins can snatch the points away from the teams in front of them and gain a higher position in the Eastern Conference.

The Bruins need to go at least 1-2-0 over their final three games. But winning at least two games might bump them up as high as fifth place. As of right now, the Bruins best chances are finishing seventh with a 28% chance.

Root, Root, Root for the Team Helpers

Tonight the Devils (vs. Islanders), Capitals (vs. Hurricanes) and Senators (vs. Canadiens) are all in action. That means I’m hoping the Islanders, Hurricanes (on second thought, maybe Capitals?) and Canadiens (ick!) are all victorious.

I couldn’t figure out how the Capitals weren’t eliminated from the playoffs yet since they have 88 points, but then I saw the Hurricanes are sitting in third with 90 points.

Tomorrow, the Rangers play the Islanders and the Flyers play the Penguins.

Divide and Conquer

The Bruins hosted their division rivals, the Senators, on Saturday and shut them out 4-0! Tim Thomas earned his third shutout of the season making 34 saves. P.J. Axelsson, Marco Sturm, Shane Hnidy and David Krejci scored for the Bruins.

On Sunday, the Bruins were in Buffalo and Alex Auld got the nod in goal. Krejci scored a shorthanded goal and the Sabres scored a power play in the first period. The game went to overtime where the Sabres scored the game-winner 39 seconds in.

The Bruins closed out their weekend gaining a possible three out of four points.

The Bruins play in New Jersey tomorrow, in Ottawa on Friday and close out the regular season back home on Saturday against the Sabres.

Movin’ and Buzzin’

The Bruins recalled forward Jeff Hoggan on emergency recall after Jeremy Reich was injured during Saturday’s game. Reich suffered a head injury after being elbowed by Senators’ enforcer Chris Neil. Mark Stuart was also shaken up during the game, injuring his right arm while being hit behind the Bruins’ goal, but returned to action.

Hoggan was returned to Providence today.

The Bruins had yesterday off from practice, but listed defenseman Andrew Alberts day-to-day. Alberts is looking to get back into the line-up after suffering headaches. Alberts might only need one full-contact practice before returning to the line-up, which could come as soon as tomorrow’s game.

Center Marc Savard and defenseman Andrew Ference remain out of the line-up, but could be available for the games this weekend.

Patrice Bergeron passed his psych test last week, but was not cleared for contact by the neurologist. He will be re-evaluated in another week, taking away any chance of returning during the regular season.

Despite the day off from practice, some Bruins were busy getting their heads shaved for charity. Lead by defenseman Aaron Ward, five other players participated in “Cuts for a Cause”. Ward along with Milan Lucic, Bergeron, Alberts, Stuart and Dennis Wideman got their cuts, and a lot of local coverage from all the news stations.

Injuries aren’t going to make things any easier for the Bruins in their last six games of the season.

The most recent addition to the ever-growing injured list is forward Chuck Kobasew. Kobasew was felled by a shot in the first period in Tuesday’s 6-2 win in Toronto, and results of a CT scan revealed a fractured tibia. Kobasew has 22 goals and 17 assists this season.

Kobasew will join Marc Savard (back) and Andrew Ference (knee) up in the press box for tonight’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Herald reported that Savard has a broken bone in his back.

Going into tonight’s game, the Bruins have 324 man-games lost due to injuries. They surpassed their 2006-2007 season total of 162 on January 12th.

Peter Schaefer will make his way back into the line-up tonight after being a healthy scratch for the last five games. Schaefer has 8 goals and 15 assists in 57 games this season.

Regarding the status of center Patrice Bergeron, defenseman Andrew Alberts and goaltender Manny Fernandez, they all seem to be making some headway with their recovery. A little bit of a cheat sheet as to where they stand right now.

- Patrice Bergeron passed his neuro-psych test yesterday, yet another checkpoint in his comeback from his Grade 3 concussion. Bergeron, however, has not been cleared for full-contact practice. That might come after his appointment this afternoon with a neurologist. Bergeron has been symptom-free for a week. (Globe Blog)

- Defenseman Andrew Alberts appears to have turned a big corner on his way back to the lineup. Chiarelli said Alberts (concussion) has for the first time strung together multiple headache-free days.

If the headaches don’t return for one week, Alberts could be allowed to resume full-contact practice.

“I don’t think he’s ready to play now,” Chiarelli said. “But if we get a week, then one full practice with full contact, it might be enough.” (Herald article)

- The GM reported goalie Manny Fernandez (knee) is 99 percent ready but likely would play only in the event of “dire straits” or “if our (playoff) spot is clinched or we’re eliminated.” (Herald article)

The Bruins hold down the 8th and final playoff spot. Philadelphia is still ahead of them by two points, and Washington is behind by two points. Washington plays Tampa Bay tonight, and Philadelphia has the night off, taking on New Jersey tomorrow.

Tim Thomas will make his fifth straight start tonight. Thomas (25-18-5, 2.55 GAA, .919 Sv%) is 2-1-1 in his previous four games. The Leafs will most likely go with Vesa Toskala (32-23-6, 2.64 GAA, .907 Sv%) again tonight.

The referees for tonight’s game are Chris Lee and Rob Shick.

Beat the Habs!

I'll check in again soon.