Bruins Faithful Watch Penguins Clinch East

Bruins Faithful Watch Penguins Clinch East

The Boston Bruins faithful were able to focus back on hockey for a couple of hours by booing Jarome Iginla, who chose to go to Pittsburgh rather than Boston a few weeks ago. Iginla had the last laugh when he blasted in a 50-foot powerplay shot to help the Penguins clinch the East with a 3-2 win in a game postponed until Saturday by the successful manhunt Friday. The Penguins dominated the East despite playing again without three of their best players (Sidney Crosby–broken jaw, Evgeni Malkin-shoulder, James Neal–concussion).

Seed Eastern DIV GP W L OT Pts
1 Pittsburgh ATL 44 34 10 0 68
2 Montréal NE 44 27 12 5 59
3 Washington SE 44 24 18 2 50
4 Boston NE 43 26 12 5 57
5 Toronto NE 44 24 15 5 53
6 Ottawa NE 43 23 14 6 52
7 NY Islanders ATL 44 23 16 5 51
8 NY Rangers ATL 44 23 17 4 50
Out Winnipeg SE 44 23 19 2 48
Out New Jersey ATL 44 17 17 10 44
Out Buffalo NE 45 19 20 6 44
Out Philadelphia ATL 44 19 22 3 41
Out Tampa Bay SE 44 17 23 4 38
Out Carolina SE 43 17 23 3 37
Out Florida SE 44 13 25 6 32

The Bruins are still in strong shape for the final playoff spot with home advantage, but the fifth through eighth place teams are all still mathematically alive to catch them. If any do, the Bruins would start the playoffs on the road.

If the Bruins hold on, they would play Toronto (53 points), Ottawa (52), New York Islanders (51), or New York Rangers (50). For the AP account of the game, click here.

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