Over the last week, the Bruins have faced their “most important game of the season” on a nightly basis. Well, with two games left and their backs against the wall, Game No. 81 against the Red Wings is indeed the “most important game of the season.”

Honestly, it is.

For a team that had a 10-point margin on the Red Wings and Flyers after taking over first place in the Atlantic Division in the middle of March, the Bruins are now fighting for their playoff lives. For that matter, head coach Claude Julien and some of the Bruins’ core are fighting for their future in Boston.

No matter what happens tonight, the Red Wings will still have at least one more regulation and overtime win (ROW) — the first tie-breaking scenario — over the Bruins. The Wings currently sit with 39 ROW’s compared to the Bruins’ 37. A win and the Wings clinch their 25th consecutive appearance in the postseason. A loss will put a delay to that historic accomplishment until their last game of the regular season.

The Bruins and Flyers sit at 91 points, but Philly has a game in hand on the Black and Gold, thus owning the final wild card spot in the East.

It’s do or die for the Bruins.

Gametime: 7:00 p.m.
TV/Radio: NESN-Plus/98.5 The Sports Hub
Records: Bruins 41-30-9 (91 points), Red Wings 41-28-11 (93 points)
Location: TD Garden

Bruins projected lines

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

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

Tuukka Rask
Jonas Gustavsson

Red Wings projected lines

Justin Abdelkader-Henrik Zetterberg-Dylan Larkin
Darren Helm-Pavel Datsyuk-Brad Richards
Gustav Nyquist-Riley Sheahan-Tomas Tatar
Andreas Athanasiou-Luke Glendening-Tomas Jurco

Danny DeKeyser-Kyle Quincey
Niklas Kronwall-Alexey Marchenko
Jonathan Ericsson-Mike Green

Jimmy Howard
Petr Mrazek

Matchup to watch: Bruins offense vs. Wings defense

David Krejci and the Bruins offense need to finish their scoring chances if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. (Photo by Joe Makarski, Bruins Daily)

When a team scores 10 goals in two games against the high octane Blues and Blackhawks, it usually is a good indication that they’d come away with four points. Instead, the Bruins only came away with two points after allowing 11 goals in that span.

At the very least, the Bruins offense — which had scored 10 goals in seven games prior to their trip to St. Louis and Chicago — should have built off their weekend when they hosted the Hurricanes. Instead, much like they did during that seven-game stretch to end March, the B’s, while having several scoring chances, lacked finish against Cam Ward and company.

And now here we are on Game No. 81 of the season against Jimmy Howard and a Red Wings team coming to TD Garden fresh off a 3-0 shutout over the Flyers less than 24 hours ago. How the Bruins lines will look is anyone’s guess, but one thing is for certain, their best offensive players like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Krejci and David Pastrnak need to not only create chances, but finish them. Otherwise, well, you know…

Storyline to watch: Will tonight be the next nail in the Bruins’ coffin?

A loss to the Red Wings would put one more nail in the Bruins coffin this season. (Photo by Joe Makarski, Bruins Daily)

From the offense finishing chances, to the defense in front of Tuukka Rask and special teams, the Bruins absolutely need to have things clicking on all cylinders tonight.

Getting a good effort is one thing. Executing is another. The Bruins need to do the latter. Their slim playoff hopes depend on it.