With three games left in 2015-16, the Bruins enter their final stretch trailing the Red Wings (for third in the Atlantic Division) and Flyers (for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference) by one point.

Each game remaining at TD Garden will be the ‘most important game of the season.’ Tonight that game comes against the Carolina Hurricanes, who defeated the Black and Gold in overtime in the last meeting a few weeks back. The B’s won the first meeting of the season in late February down in Raleigh.

After giving up 11 goals in two games against the Blues and Blackhawks this past weekend, the Bruins defense is in need of putting together a solid 60-minute effort. They’ll have a couple of reinforcements with them as Kevan Miller — who missed Sunday’s game against the Blackhawks after sustaining a lower body injury in St. Louis — and the recently called up Colin Miller will likely return to the Bruins’ lineup. For Colin, this will mark his first appearance in a Black and Gold uniform since February 14th in Detroit.

Gametime: 7:00 p.m.
TV/Radio: NESN/98.5 The Sports Hub
Records: Bruins 41-30-8 (90 points), 34-29-16 (84 points)
Location: TD Garden

Bruins projected lines

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Loui Eriksson
Matt Beleskey-David Krejci-David Pastrnak
Frank Vatrano-Ryan Spooner-Lee Stempniak
Landon Ferraro-Noel Acciari-Jimmy Hayes

Zdeno Chara-Kevan Miller
Colin Miller-John-Michael Liles
Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask
Jonas Gustavsson

Hurricanes projected lines

Joakim Nordstrom-Jordan Staal-Elias Lindholm
Jeff Skinner-Victor Rask-Chris Terry
Nathan Gerbe-Jay McClement-Brad Malone
Brendan Woods-Brody Sutter-Patrick Brown

Jaccob Slavin-Justin Faulk
Ron Hainsey-Ryan Murphy
Michal Jordan-Noah Hanifin

Cam Ward
Eddie Lack

Matchup to watch: Bruins’ defense vs. Hurricanes speed

The Bruins hope to get contributions from Kevan Miller (who missed Sunday’s game vs. Blackhawks with an upper body injury) and Colin Miller (recently called up from Providence) tonight vs. the Hurricanes. (Photos by Joe Makarski, Bruins Daily)

Quickness and agility is usually what gives the Bruins’ defense the most fits. The Blackhawks displayed all of that on Sunday. From odd-man rushes to breakaways, Patrick Kane and company were two steps ahead against a B’s defense that was plagued by turnovers and inconsistencies, again.

Although the Hurricanes may not have the goal scoring prowess as the Blackhawks or the Blues, they do possess some speed that could give the Bruins defense some fits. Having a returning Kevan Miller, who has improved during the second half of the season, and Colin Miller could give the blue-line a shot in the arm with three games left.

Desperate times, again, call for desperate measures. In a must-win scenario, the Bruins will need to tighten up in their own end and smoothly transition from defense to offense against a ‘Canes team that has nothing left to play for after being eliminated from playoff contention last week.

Storyline to watch: The ongoing playoff chase

With a win against the Hurricanes, the Bruins will move back into a top eight spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. (Photo by Joe Makarski, Bruins Daily)

With the Flyers and Red Wings in action tomorrow, the Bruins will jump back to the top eight with a win against Carolina. A win tonight and a Red Wings regulation loss to the Flyers tomorrow means the Bruins will have a chance to clinch a playoff berth when they face Detroit in the second game of back to back nights on Thursday.

Realistically, the Bruins will need to win their next three games to return to the playoffs.

Against a team looking to spoil their postseason hopes, the Bruins need to show desperation for 60 minutes in Game No. 80.