The Bruins are an even .500 with a 5-5-1 overall record this season against their three remaining opponents of the year, and have been outscored 30-29 over those 11 games. The Atlanta Thrashers have been eliminated from the playoff race with their 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils last night in Kovalchuk’s return to the Phillips Arena. But those pesky New York Rangers are still just three-points back of the B’s in ninth-place with two game remaining.

The recent news of Dennis Seidenberg’s season-ending surgery — okay, eight-weeks — definitely limits the Bruins’ chances of a first round upset. But we’ve got the NHL Draft lottery right around the corner, so that’s something positive to look forward to. Plus, Mark Recchi was nominated as a finalist this morning by the Boston chapter of the PHWA for the NHL’s Masterson Award.

Speaking of the draft, in the Catch-22 game of the night last night, the Flyers blanked the Maple Leafs 2-0 at the Air Canada Centre. The two-points put the Flyers ahead of the Bruins in eighth-place with 86 points, but kept Toronto in 29th place with 72 points. The Leafs are just two-points back of the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning — each with 74 points — but have one-less game remaining on the schedule. The Panthers and Lighting finish the season with a home-and-home series against each other; so Bruins fans need to be hoping for a two-point victory for each club so the Leafs stay second-to-last in the NHL to keep their lottery chances for a top-2 pick high.

(87 points, 6th East, 20-16-4 at home, 19-16-5 away, 4-3-3 last 10 games)

@ Carolina (2-1-0)
v. Toronto (3-1-1)

TOTAL: 5-2-1

(86 pts. 7th East, 23-14-3 home, 17-20-3 away, 3-6-1 last 10)

@ NY Rangers (2-2-0)
v. NY Rangers

TOTAL: 2-2-0

(85 pts. 8th East, 16-17-6 home, 20-13-7 away, 5-4-1 last 10)

v. Buffalo (3-2-0)
v. Carolina (2-1-0)
@ Washington (0-3-0)

TOTAL: 5-5-1

(82 pts. 9th East, 16-17-6 home, 20-16-4 away, 5-4-1 last 10)

v. Toronto (2-0-1)
v. Philadelphia (2-2-0)
@ Philadelphia

TOTAL: 4-2-1