Bruins embrace chance to win Atlantic, East in finale against Panthers

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins were participating in Fan Appreciation Night, giving game-worn jerseys to fans at TD Garden following their 5-2 win against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. At the same time, the Bruins coaches were around a television, watching the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning in overtime.

"Me and Joe [Sacco] and Kevin [Dean] and goalie coach Bob [Essensa] were in there watching," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "An opportunity for us. Hopefully we're up to the task."
The loss by the Lightning kept alive the Bruins' hopes for first place in the Atlantic Division and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference heading into their regular-season finale against the Florida Panthers at home Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, SN360, NESN, FS-F, NHL.TV).
If the Bruins win, they will clinch first place in the Atlantic and play the New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference First Round. If they lose, they will finish second and play the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round.
The matchup against the Panthers is the one remaining regular-season game on the NHL schedule. Originally set for Jan. 4, it was postponed because of a snowstorm that hit the Boston area.
Cassidy said goaltender Tuukka Rask will start against the Panthers, who handed Boston a third straight loss, 3-2 at BB&T Center on Thursday. The Panthers were eliminated from playoff contention Saturday.

"There's pressure, obviously, to win. You want that No. 1 seed," Cassidy said. "But when you have pressure and you have expectation, what does that tell you? It means you're good. So you've got to be able to handle that."
The Bruins fell behind against the Senators when Ryan Dzingel scored at 12:31 of the first period. But Boston scored three consecutive goals in the second period and two more in the final two minutes of the third period.
Then they waited to see what happened with the Lightning.
"That's why you play the game," center Patrice Bergeron said. "You want to play to win and to be at your best. We're in the position where we can win the conference and that's a big feat. Home ice, we always talk about how big it is and, why not? We're right there."
This was not something the Bruins had envisioned early in the season, when they were expected to contend for a spot in the playoffs but not the top spot in the conference. Now that it's within reach, the Bruins are ready to take advantage of the chance.
"Here we are," Cassidy said. "We're in a position to take it. And that's a credit to the guys. We've worked hard to get here. This wasn't by accident."