Montreal's Hal Gill (Bolton, Mass.) dispatched ex-teammate Bill Guerin and the Penguins last week, now he's setting his sights on the Flyers in the conference finals. (photo: Getty)

Bruins fans never really warmed to Hal Gill.

Despite the fact that he was a hometown kid from Bolton, Mass., the Garden (or FleetCenter then) faithful even booed Gill when the club announced that he had been named an alternate for the U.S. Olympic Team at a game in 2006.

But while Boston fans never grew to love Gill, and probably like him even less now that he’s playing for the dreaded Canadiens, they can at least share a common hatred with him.

Gill added some spice to the Eastern Conference finals that open tonight with Montreal playing Game 1 at Philadelphia as he expressed a sentiment common around these parts right about now.

“It’s easy to hate the Flyers,” Gill told the Canadian Press. “They’ve been the Broad Street Bullies, their fans are loud and obnoxious. If you’re from Philly that’s great, if you’re not you hate them. It’s fun to hate the Flyers, just like it’s fun for them to hate our fans and our team. It should be a good series as far as hate goes.”

Boston fans have no problem hating the Flyers, though right now their disdain is probably even stronger for the Bruins after they blew a 3-0 series lead and a 3-0 lead in Game 7 against Philadelphia, depriving Boston puckheads a chance of witnessing another chapter in the B’s-Habs storied rivalry and instead adding the Bruins to the list of all-time choke artists.

Bruins fans may not be in the mood to watch any more hockey after the way their club’s season ended, but the Stanley Cup semifinals promise to provide plenty of intriguing storylines and exciting action if you bear to watch.

Here’s a quick rundown of the two conference finals.

Eastern Conference: No. 7 Philadelphia vs. No. 8 Montreal

How they got here: Boston fans don’t need to be reminded of how the Flyers reached this point. After needing to beat the Rangers in a shootout in the final game of the regular season just to qualify for the playoffs, Philadelphia knocked off New Jersey in five games in the first round, then became just the third team in NHL history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit when they beat the Bruins. Montreal had the worst record in the playoff field, but rallied from 3-1 down to knock off Alex Ovechkin and President’s Trophy-winning Washington, then came back from trailing 3-2 to beat Sidney Crosby and the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins.

Bruins Connections: Flyers coach Peter Laviolette coached in the Bruins system, winning a Calder Cup in Providence in 1999, and served as an assistant in Boston in 2000-01. Gill spent the first eight seasons of his career in Boston, but has flourished away from the hometown spotlight, developing into a top shutdown defender and winning a Cup last year in Pittsburgh. Fellow blueliner Paul Mara also played for the Bruins and signed with Montreal last summer, but underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in March. Habs forward Glen Metropolit resurrected his career in Boston in 2007-08 after winning a job on a training camp tryout, and set a career high with 16 goals this year in Montreal.

New England Ties: Laviolette hails from Franklin, Mass. and played his college hockey at Westfield State, while Flyers goalie Brian Boucher, who was injured in Game 5 of the Bruins series, is a Mount St. Charles product from Woonsocket, RI.  Philly rookie James van Riemsdyk played his college hockey at UNH. On the Montreal side, Gill hails from Bolton, Mass. and played at Providence College, while Mara is from Belmont, Mass. Max Pacioretty (New Canaan, Conn.) began the year with Montreal, but was assigned to Hamilton (AHL) in January, where he’s currently sidelined with a shoulder injury. Brian Gionta played at Boston College and mid-season addition Dominic Moore was a Harvard man before turning pro.

Players to watch: The Habs’ three big offseason acquisitions have all come up huge in the playoffs, with Michael Cammalleri leading the team with 12-6-18 totals and three game-winners, while Gionta and Scott Gomez each have 12 points. Gill leads the league with 54 blocked shots in the playoffs despite missing one game after getting cut with a skate, while Jaroslav Halak has been a force in net, going 8-5 with a 2.42 GAA and a .930 save percentage and making 34 or more saves seven times in the first two rounds. Philadelphia captain Mike Richards derailed Boston’s season with his hit on David Krejci, but is also capable of hurting opponents on the scoreboard, as he leads the Flyers with 17 points in 12 playoff games. Simon Gagne returned from a broken toe to score four goals in four games against Boston, including the game-winner in OT in his first game back and the series clincher with 7:08 left in Game 7. Danny Briere has 15 points in 12 games and Chris Pronger has chipped in 11 points while leading the Flyers defense. Michael Leighton is now the man in goal after Boucher’s injury, and he was 2-0 with 1.54 GAA and a .940 save percentage against the Bruins.

The lowdown: It’s the first meeting between 7 and 8 seeds since the NHL went to the 1-8 conference format in 1994, which means there will be Cinderella in the Cup finals no matter who wins. The Flyers have the home-ice advantage and are 4-1 in Philly this postseason, but the Canadiens are 5-3 on the road and have already won a pair of Game 7s in enemy rinks. Both of these teams have shown their character and resiliency in the first two rounds, so don’t expect this one to go less than seven games either.

Western Conference: No. 1 San Jose vs. No. 2 Chicago

How they got here: The top-seeded Sharks exorcised some playoff demons by avoiding a first-round upset against Colorado with a 4-2 win, then dispatched Detroit 4-1. Things looked bleak early on when San Jose fell behind 2-1 to the Avalanche after Dan Boyle put the puck into his own net in overtime for the only goal of Game 3, but the Sharks have gone 7-1 since that disaster. Chicago also trailed 2-1 in the opening round, but rattled off three straight wins to beat Nashville 4-2, then beat Vancouver 4-2 as well in the second round.

Bruins Connections: San Jose is of course now home to former Bruins captain Joe Thornton, who was dealt to the Sharks in 2005 for Brad Stuart, Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau in one of the most infamous trades in NHL history. Defenseman Jay Leach also wore the C for the Bruins, albeit the Providence Bruins, where he played parts of four seasons and got called up for two games with Boston in 2005-06.  For Chicago, Kris Versteeg was sent away in a much smaller, but similarly ill-advised trade for Brandon Bochenski in 2007 that remains one of Peter Chiarelli worst moves. The Blackhawks front office includes director of player development Norm MacIver, who was an assistant coach in Boston earlier this decade, while former Bruins Martin Lapointe and Dennis Bonvie are now pro scouts for Chicago.

New England Ties: The Sharks, whose AHL affiliate is in Worcester, have mined the Bay State for plenty of talent. Forwards Benn Ferriero (Essex, Mass.) and  John McCarthy (Andover, Mass.) are among the club’s Black Aces after making their NHL debuts early in the season. Defenseman Joe Callahan (Brockton, Mass.) also enjoyed a brief callup, while Leach also has local ties, having played at Providence College before turning pro. The best Chicago can muster on the New England front is skating coach Paul Vincent, who lives in Falmouth, Mass. He previously worked closer to home with Harvard, Boston College, Northeastern and Dartmouth, and most recently with the Bruins from 2004-08.

Players to watch: Thornton has begun to shed his playoff bust label with 11 points in as many games, including nine in a six-game point-scoring streak. And for a guy frequently accused of choking in the clutch, Thornton has come up huge this spring by scoring when it matters most. He has nine points in San Jose’s six one-goal wins, and seven of his 11 points have been scored in the third period or overtime. Joe Pavelski has been even hotter with team-leading 9-6-15 totals and three game-winners, while Dany Heatley (2-9-11) and Patrick Marleau (3-4-7, 2 GW goals) have shown up this postseason as well. Boyle has made up for his own-goal gaffe with 2-7-9 totals and Evgeni Nabokov has gotten the job done in goal (8-3, 2.43 GAA, .910 save percentage). For Chicago, Jonathan Toews has been dominant with 20 points in 12 games, while fellow young star Patrick Kane has 15 points. Marian Hossa has chipped in 10 points and Versteeg has a pair of game-winners. The biggest surprise might be Patrick Sharp though, as he already has 14 points. Antti Niemi is 8-4 with a 2.57 GAA and a .910 save percentage between the pipes.

The lowdown: It’s the complete opposite of the East, as the West’s top two teams remain alive. It’s just the sixth time that a 1 and 2 seed will meet in the conference finals since the format change in 1994. San Jose has home ice, where the Sharks are 5-1 this postseason. But the Blackhawks are 5-1 on the road, winning five straight away from the Windy City — including all three games in Vancouver in the second round. Thornton is on a mission to erase the doubts about his ability to deliver in the playoffs, but Toews and Kane might be too much to handle. Plus, everyone knows Hossa doesn’t lose until the Cup finals.

That elusive fourth win against the Flyers has remained just out of the reach of Marc Savard and the Bruins, but they have one final chance to reel it in tonight. (photo: Getty)

Matchup: Philadelphia Flyers at Boston Bruins, 7 p.m. (NESN; 98.5 FM)

Series Status: Tied, 3-3. Boston jumped out to a 3-0 lead after pulling out a dramatic 5-4 win in overtime in Game 1, a 3-2 victory in the second game on the strength of a Milan Lucic game-winner with 2:57 remaining and a 4-1 win in Philadelphia in Game 3. But the Flyers stayed alive with a 5-4 win in overtime in Game 4 to avoid the sweep last Friday, then made it a series again with a resounding 4-0 win at the Garden in Game 5 on Monday and held on for a 2-1 win in Game 6 on Wednesday to force a decisive Game 7 tonight.

Regular-Season Records: Boston 39-30-13, 91 points; Philadelphia 41-35-6, 88 points

Regular-Season Results: Boston took the season series 2-1-1. The Bruins pulled off their most memorable win of the year in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park on New Year’s Day, as Mark Recchi scored with 2:18 left in regulation and Marco Sturm scored in OT for a 2-1 win. The Flyers prevailed in the previous two meetings, winning 4-3 in a shootout in the first meeting in Philadelphia on Oct. 22, and rallying with three goals in the third for a 3-1 win in Boston on Dec. 14. The Bruins enjoyed the only blowout in the series, winning 5-1 in Philly on March 11 as Bergeron had a goal and two assists and Sturm, David Krejci and Blake Wheeler each had a goal and an assist.

Playoff Path: The sixth-seeded Bruins pulled off the upset of No. 3 Buffalo in the opening round, winning the series 4-2 with a 4-3 win in Game 6 at the Garden on April 26. Philadelphia pulled off an even bigger surprise, as the seventh-seeded Flyers ousted No. 2 New Jersey in just five games, capping off the series with a 3-0 shutout in New Jersey.

Past Playoff History: Prior to this series, the Bruins and Flyers hadn’t met in the postseason since 1978. But there was a time when the fierce rivals clashed almost every year, as they played four times in a five-year stretch in the mid-70s, with both teams winning two series. Philadelphia won the first two meetings between the rivals, with the Broad Street Bullies prevailing 4-2 in the Stanley Cup finals in 1974 and 4-1 in the semifinals in 1976. The Bruins earned some revenge with a 4-0 sweep in the 1977 semifinals and a 4-1 win in the 1978 semifinals.

Bruins Connections: Flyers coach Peter Laviolette coached in the Bruins system, winning a Calder Cup in Providence in 1999, and served as an assistant in Boston in 2000-01. Recchi and injured defenseman Dennis Seidenberg each spent time with the Flyers. Recchi had two stints in Philadelphia, playing there from 1992-95 and 1999-2004, while Seidenberg came up with the Flyers, playing there from 2002-06.

New England Ties: Laviolette hails from Franklin, Mass. and played his college hockey at Westfield State. Goalie Brian Boucher is a Mount St. Charles product from Woonsocket, RI, and took over as starting goalie after injuries to Ray Emery and Michael Leighton, and led all goalies in the first round with a 1.59 GAA and a .940 save percentage, but suffered his own serious knee injury in Game 5.  Rookie James van Riemsdyk hails from New Jersey, but he did play his college hockey at UNH. Peter Luukko, the president and chief operating officer of Flyers’ parent company Comcast-Spectacor, was born in Auburn, Mass.

Injury Update: Philadelphia got Simon Gagne (broken toe) back in Game 4 and he proceeded to score the game-winner in OT upon his return and two more goals in Game 5. But the Flyers did lost Boucher in Game 5 to a knee injury that is expected to sideline him for the rest of the playoffs. The Flyers are also still without leading goal-scorer Jeff Carter (broken foot) and veteran tough guy and key penalty killer Ian Laperriere (brain contusion, concussion). Blair Betts injured his right shoulder on Wednesday and did not finish the game, but is expected to play tonight. Emery (hip surgery) also remains out, while defenseman Mike Rathje (back/hip) missed the entire season.

The Bruins are without one of their best playmakers, as David Krejci is out for the rest of the postseason after needing surgery following Wednesday’s game when he suffered a dislocated wrist on a hit by Mike Richards in the first period. That comes on the heels of losing Marco Sturm in Game 1 when the Bruins’ leading goal-scorer this year suffered a torn ACL and MCL on the first shift of the series. He’ll miss the rest of the playoffs and likely a good chunk of next year as well. Seidenberg also remains out after forearm surgery, but fellow defenseman Mark Stuart (finger surgery) returned in Game 4. He replaced Adam McQuaid, who has missed the last three games after suffering a leg injury in Game 3. He has resumed skating, but is not expected to play tonight.

Fight Card: There have been no fights in the first six games, and with everything on the line for both teams in a Game 7, it’s extremely unlikely we’ll see any at this point in the series. Both sides will continue to play a strong physical game with plenty of hitting and intensity, but neither team wants to risk taking any extra penalties by dropping the gloves now.

In the regular season, Shawn Thornton and Dan Carcillo made fight history, with Carcillo dropping Thornton in the first regular-season outdoor fight in the NHL early in the Winter Classic at Fenway. Stuart also took on Carcillo, as well as Laperriere, on March 11, while the first meeting of the year featured unlikely combatants Ole-Kristian Tollefesen, since traded to Detroit, and Trent Whitfield. The Flyers were second in the league in the regular season with 77 fighting majors, led by Laperriere (25), Carcillo (17) and Arron Asham (14). The Bruins were 17^th in the league with 47 fighting majors, led by Thornton’s 21. But it was Boston that had a league-high three fighting majors (Milan Lucic, Zdeno Chara, Vladimir Sobotka) in the first round while Philadelphia did not have any against the Devils.

The Bruins need to get more shots on - and behind - Flyers goalie Michael Leighton. (photo: Getty)

Matchup to Watch: Tuukka Rask vs. Michael Leighton. Playoff series usually come down to goaltending, and that is magnified even more in a Game 7. So the two most important men in this matchup could be the guys behind the masks. On the surface, that gives the Bruins a clear edge, as Rask has been outstanding throughout his rookie season and inaugural playoffs. After leading the NHL with a 1.97 GAA and a .931 save percentage in the regular season, his playoff numbers are solid with a 7-5 record, 2.49 GAA and a .916 save percentage. But he’s appeared more human of late, allowing 11 goals in the last three games after giving up only 21 in his first nine playoff games. He did bounce back in Game 6, allowing just two goals on 27 shots, but he’ll need to be even sharper in this one. Leighton has been that sharp since taking over for the injured Boucher in Game 5. Leighton hadn’t played for nearly two months after suffering a high ankle sprain, but he’s shown no rust in stopping 44 of 45 of the shots he’s faced for an 0.63 GAA and a .978 save percentage in his two appearances.

Three Keys for the B’s:

1. Get shots to the net – If the Bruins are to beat Leighton, they’ll have to do a better job of getting shots on him. In the last two games, they’ve attempted 135 shots, but put only 54 of them on goal. The Flyers, meanwhile, have put 58 of 88 attempts on net. Not coincidentally, Philadelphia has outscored Boston 6-1 in those games. The Flyers have blocked 51 shots in those two games compared to just 16 blocks for the Bruins. The Bruins have to find a way to get more of their shots through the Flyers defense, and it wouldn’t hurt to see them show the same kind of willingness to sacrifice their bodies to block a few shots of their own down the other end of the ice.

“They’re really doing a good job blocking shots,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien. “They’re really collapsing and taking away those shooting lanes. We have to find ways to get those pucks to the net. We obviously need some traffic in front as well, but having traffic there and not getting the puck to the net is not going to do much.”

2. Set the tone early – The Bruins survived falling behind Buffalo regularly in the first round, but they haven’t been as fortunate against the Flyers. Philadelphia scored at 6:41 of the first in Game 5 and 6:58 of the first in Game 6, and the Bruins never recovered either time. Boston has the home-ice advantage, and they have to make full use of that by keeping the crowd involved. They also need to play with a lead instead of trying to play catch up, so scoring early and snatching any momentum the Flyers try to take into the game from their three straight wins is vital.

“That’s one of the keys to tomorrow,” said Julien. “We’ve got to be ready to go at the drop of the puck. One team is going to try to get the momentum. When you have Game 7 at home, the one thing you’d like to do is get your crowd into it as soon as possible.

“You look at (Wednesday) night what Montreal did,” added Julien of the Canadiens’ 5-2 Game 7 win at Pittsburgh which opened with the Habs scoring on the power play just 32 seconds into the first. “They took Pittsburgh’s crowd out of it right in the first 30 seconds and it was tough from there on in. It’s important for us to get the crowd behind us. When you get the seventh game and you get what you call the seventh player. That’s our fans and we need those guys to give us a boost because they do help us out.”

3. Get the offense rolling again – After finishing the regular season with the lowest scoring offense in the league, the Bruins found their groove in the postseason with 28 goals in their first nine games, posting a 7-2 record in that span. But the old problems have re-emerged since Krejci left the lineup, with them scoring just five goals in the last three games, including only one in the last two games. Julien attempted to shake things up at practice yesterday, moving Blake Wheeler up to the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Recchi and dropping Daniel Paille to the third line. Putting Wheeler, who has one goal in 20 career playoff games and just one goal in his last 26 games overall this year, on the first line might not be the cure, but the Bruins need to do something to get some production.

“Just a change, change our lines around,” said Julien. “You’re trying to find something to spark certain people, and you see that happen quite often. I just thought it was time for a change.”

The Lowdown: The Bruins have one final chance to avoid becoming a punchline for history. They’ve squandered three chances to close out the Flyers already. Now both teams are in the same situation – win or go home. The Flyers appear to have all the momentum having won the last three games, but then again, the Bruins looked like they had all the momentum after winning the first three and we all saw how that worked out. Just two teams have squandered a 3-0 lead in a seven-game series in NHL history, the last coming in 1975. The Bruins don’t want to be the entry in the record books as the third club ever to blow a 3-0 lead. They have one last chance tonight to show just how much they want to avoid that ignominy.

Milan Lucic (right) and the Bruins need to shut down Simon Gagne (12) and the Flyers in Game 6, but they have to do it without more trips to the box. (photo: Getty)

Matchup: Boston Bruins at Philadelphia Flyers, 8 p.m. (NESN; 98.5 FM)

Series Status: Bruins lead, 3-2. Boston jumped out to a 3-0 lead after pulling out a dramatic 5-4 win in overtime in Game 1, a 3-2 victory in the second game on the strength of a Milan Lucic game-winner with 2:57 remaining and a 4-1 win in Philadelphia in Game 3. But the Flyers stayed alive with a 5-4 win in overtime in Game 4 to avoid the sweep on Friday, then made it a series again with a resounding 4-0 win at the Garden in Game 5 on Monday.

Regular-Season Records: Boston 39-30-13, 91 points; Philadelphia 41-35-6, 88 points

Regular-Season Results: Boston took the season series 2-1-1. The Bruins pulled off their most memorable win of the year in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park on New Year’s Day, as Mark Recchi scored with 2:18 left in regulation and Marco Sturm scored in OT for a 2-1 win. The Flyers prevailed in the previous two meetings, winning 4-3 in a shootout in the first meeting in Philadelphia on Oct. 22, and rallying with three goals in the third for a 3-1 win in Boston on Dec. 14. The Bruins enjoyed the only blowout in the series, winning 5-1 in Philly on March 11 as Bergeron had a goal and two assists and Sturm, David Krejci and Blake Wheeler each had a goal and an assist.

Playoff Path: The sixth-seeded Bruins pulled off the upset of No. 3 Buffalo in the opening round, winning the series 4-2 with a 4-3 win in Game 6 at the Garden on April 26. Philadelphia pulled off an even bigger surprise, as the seventh-seeded Flyers ousted No. 2 New Jersey in just five games, capping off the series with a 3-0 shutout in New Jersey.

Past Playoff History: The Bruins and Flyers haven’t met in the postseason since 1978, which means the only current Bruins who were even alive for that last playoff meeting are Recchi, Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas, Miroslav Satan, Marc Savard, Shawn Thornton and Trent Whitfield. But there was a time when the fierce rivals clashed almost every year, as they played four times in a five-year stretch in the mid-70s, with both teams winning two series. Philadelphia won the first two meetings between the rivals, with the Broad Street Bullies prevailing 4-2 in the Stanley Cup finals in 1974 and 4-1 in the semifinals in 1976. The Bruins earned some revenge with a 4-0 sweep in the 1977 semifinals and a 4-1 win in the 1978 semifinals.

Bruins Connections: Flyers coach Peter Laviolette coached in the Bruins system, winning a Calder Cup in Providence in 1999, and served as an assistant in Boston in 2000-01. Recchi and injured defenseman Dennis Seidenberg each spent time with the Flyers. Recchi had two stints in Philadelphia, playing there from 1992-95 and 1999-2004, while Seidenberg came up with the Flyers, playing there from 2002-06.

New England Ties: Laviolette hails from Franklin, Mass. and played his college hockey at Westfield State. Goalie Brian Boucher is a Mount St. Charles product from Woonsocket, RI, and took over as starting goalie after injuries to Ray Emery and Michael Leighton, and led all goalies in the first round with a 1.59 GAA and a .940 save percentage, but suffered his own serious knee injury in Game 5.  Rookie James van Riemsdyk hails from New Jersey, but he did play his college hockey at UNH. Peter Luukko, the president and chief operating officer of Flyers’ parent company Comcast-Spectacor, was born in Auburn, Mass.

Injury Update: Philadelphia got Simon Gagne (broken toe) back in Game 4 and he proceeded to score the game-winner in OT upon his return and two more goals in Game 5. But the Flyers did lost Boucher in Game 5 to a knee injury that is expected to sideline him for the rest of the playoffs. On Monday, Leighton dressed for the first time since suffering a high ankle sprain on March 16, and he was immediately pressed into service when Boucher went down. The Flyers are also still without leading goal-scorer Jeff Carter (broken foot) and veteran tough guy and key penalty killer Ian Laperriere (brain contusion, concussion). Agitator Dan Carcillo (knee) and defenseman Ryan Parent (back) both played through their injuries in Game 5 and are expected to be in the lineup tonight. Emery (hip surgery) remain out, while defenseman Mike Rathje (back/hip) missed the entire season.

The Bruins are without one of their best playmakers, as David Krejci is out for the rest of the postseason after needing surgery after Wednesday’s game when he suffered a dislocated wrist on a hit by Mike Richards in the first period. That comes on the heels of losing Marco Sturm in Game 1 when the Bruins’ leading goal-scorer this year suffered a torn ACL and MCL on the first shift of the series. He’ll miss the rest of the playoffs and likely a good chunk of next year as well. Seidenberg also remains out after forearm surgery, but fellow defenseman Mark Stuart (finger surgery) returned in Game 4. He replaced Adam McQuaid, who missed Games 4 and 5 after suffering a leg injury in Game 3. He has resumed skating, but is not expected to play tonight.

Fight Card: There have been no fights in the first four games, and with the Flyers facing elimination it’s unlikely we’ll see any in this series as the message-sending portion of the series has passed. Both sides will continue to play a strong physical game with plenty of hitting and intensity, but neither team wants to risk taking any extra penalties by dropping the gloves at this point.

In the regular season, Thornton and Carcillo made fight history, with Carcillo dropping Thornton in the first regular-season outdoor fight in the NHL early in the Winter Classic at Fenway. Stuart also took on Carcillo, as well as Laperriere, on March 11, while the first meeting of the year featured unlikely combatants Ole-Kristian Tollefesen, since traded to Detroit, and Whitfield. The Flyers were second in the league in the regular season with 77 fighting majors, led by Laperriere (25), Carcillo (17) and Arron Asham (14). The Bruins were 17^th in the league with 47 fighting majors, led by Thornton’s 21. But it was Boston that had a league-high three fighting majors (Milan Lucic, Zdeno Chara, Vladimir Sobotka) in the first round while Philadelphia did not have any against the Devils.

Chris Pronger (left) and Zdeno Chara will be two of the key figures in settling this series. (photo: Getty)

Matchup to Watch: Zdeno Chara vs. Chris Pronger. The two towering defensemen are key performers for their respective teams. They’re also first and second in the NHL in playoff ice-time, with Pronger averaging 29:44 a game and Chara 28:33. But while Pronger seems to be thriving on the heavy workload, Chara appears to be wearing down. Pronger has 4-7-11 totals in 10 playoff games, including 2-4-6 totals against Boston. In Philly’s wins in the last two games, he has a goal, two assists and a plus-4. Chara has 2-3-5 totals in 11 playoff games, but just two assists against Philadelphia. He has no points and no shots on goal and is a minus-1 in the last two games. He’s only attempted one shot in those two contests despite playing 56:55. The Bruins need him to maintain his physical presence and steady defense (8 blocked shots, 6 hits in last two games) but also need Chara to get involved in the offense again.

Three Keys for the B’s:

1. Get offense from the defense – Chara isn’t the only Bruin blueliner who has struggled to contribute to the club’s attack in the last two games. Boston’s six defensemen managed just nine shots in Game 4 and a meager two in Game 5. Bruins defensemen only attempted nine shots in Monday’s game, with one blocked and six missing the net. Mark Stuart and Matt Hunwick also had no shots on goal in both games, while Johnny Boychuk had none in Game 5. The Bruins need to unleash the booming shots of Chara and Boychuk in particular from the point to put pressure on the Flyers and create opportunities for tips and rebounds in front.

“They’re certainly getting on our D quickly,” said coach Claude Julien. “I think they’re respecting the fact that we got some quality shots there early in the series and they’ve taken that away from us. So obviously that’s something we’re going to have to look at and try and figure out a way to get some shots through.”

2. Stop Gagne – Flyers star Simon Gagne has been a difference-maker since returning from a broken toe in Game 4. He scored the game-winning goal in his first game back and added two more in Game 5, posting a plus-2 rating and firing 11 shots on net in the two games. The Bruins have to find a way to slow him down.

“He’s a world-class player,” said Recchi of Gagne. “He’s a great goal-scorer and he’s got speed. I think he’s definitely made a difference. … He’s has an impact and we have to find a way to slow him down a bit.”

3. Stay out of the box – The Bruins penalty kill has been outstanding throughout the postseason and remained one of the few bright spots in Monday’s otherwise dismal defeat. But the PK got way too much work in Game 5, as the Bruins were charged with 22 minutes in the box on 10 penalties. The Flyers went just 1 for 9 on the power play (and are just 1 of 19 in the last four games), but even without converting those chances, being constantly short-handed robbed the Bruins offense of getting into any kind of rhythm or mount a comeback once they fell behind. The Bruins need to be more disciplined and draw penalties rather than take them.

“It’s just a credit to (the Flyers) for their hard work,” said forward Milan Lucic. “Usually when there are teams that work we tend to take penalties. So I think the biggest thing there is we have to start taking the play to them so they can take penalties like that against us.”

Andrew Ference and the rest of Boston's blueliners need to get more shots like this on goal. (photo: Getty)

The Lowdown: The Bruins are 0 for 2 so far in attempts to close out this series after taking a seemingly commanding 3-0 lead. They can’t afford a third strike. Even though they would have home ice in Game 7 if the Flyers extend the series to the limit, the Bruins don’t want this one to get to a winner-take-all finale where anything can happen regardless of the venue. They’ve already won one game in Philadelphia in this series. Now they need to do it again, to finally earn a trip back to the conference finals that Bruins fans have been waiting 18 years to experience again.

Vladimir Sobotka (left) and the Bruins hope to deliver the knock-out punch to Daniel Briere and the Flyers in Game 5 tonight at the Garden. (photo: Getty)

Matchup: Philadelphia Flyers at Boston Bruins, 7 p.m. (NESN; 98.5 FM)

Series Status: Bruins lead, 3-1. Boston jumped out to a 3-0 lead after pulling out a dramatic 5-4 win in overtime in Game 1, a 3-2 victory in the second game on the strength of a Milan Lucic game-winner with 2:57 remaining and a 4-1 win in Philadelphia on Wednesday, but the Flyers stayed alive with a 5-4 win in overtime in Game 4 to avoid the sweep on Friday.

Regular-Season Records: Boston 39-30-13, 91 points; Philadelphia 41-35-6, 88 points

Regular-Season Results: Boston took the season series 2-1-1. The Bruins pulled off their most memorable win of the year in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park on New Year’s Day, as Mark Recchi scored with 2:18 left in regulation and Marco Sturm scored in OT for a 2-1 win. The Flyers prevailed in the previous two meetings, winning 4-3 in a shootout in the first meeting in Philadelphia on Oct. 22, and rallying with three goals in the third for a 3-1 win in Boston on Dec. 14. The Bruins enjoyed the only blowout in the series, winning 5-1 in Philly on March 11 as Bergeron had a goal and two assists and Sturm, David Krejci and Blake Wheeler each had a goal and an assist.

Playoff Path: The sixth-seeded Bruins pulled off the upset of No. 3 Buffalo in the opening round, winning the series 4-2 with a 4-3 win in Game 6 at the Garden on April 26. Philadelphia pulled off an even bigger surprise, as the seventh-seeded Flyers ousted No. 2 New Jersey in just five games, capping off the series with a 3-0 shutout in New Jersey.

Past Playoff History: The Bruins and Flyers haven’t met in the postseason since 1978, which means the only current Bruins who were even alive for that last playoff meeting are Recchi, Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas, Miroslav Satan, Marc Savard, Shawn Thornton and Trent Whitfield. But there was a time when the fierce rivals clashed almost every year, as they played four times in a five-year stretch in the mid-70s, with both teams winning two series. Philadelphia won the first two meetings between the rivals, with the Broad Street Bullies prevailing 4-2 in the Stanley Cup finals in 1974 and 4-1 in the semifinals in 1976. The Bruins earned some revenge with a 4-0 sweep in the 1977 semifinals and a 4-1 win in the 1978 semifinals.

Bruins Connections: Flyers coach Peter Laviolette coached in the Bruins system, winning a Calder Cup in Providence in 1999, and served as an assistant in Boston in 2000-01. Recchi and injured defenseman Dennis Seidenberg each spent time with the Flyers. Recchi had two stints in Philadelphia, playing there from 1992-95 and 1999-2004, while Seidenberg came up with the Flyers, playing there from 2002-06.

New England Ties: Laviolette hails from Franklin, Mass. and played his college hockey at Westfield State. Goalie Brian Boucher is a Mount St. Charles product from Woonsocket, RI, and took over as starting goalie after injuries to Ray Emery and Michael Leighton, and led all goalies in the first round with a 1.59 GAA and a .940 save percentage.  Rookie James van Riemsdyk hails from New Jersey, but he did play his college hockey at UNH. Peter Luukko, the president and chief operating officer of Flyers’ parent company Comcast-Spectacor, was born in Auburn, Mass.

Injury Update: Philadelphia got Simon Gagne (broken toe) back in Game 4 and he proceeded to score the game-winner in OT upon his return. But the Flyers are still without leading goal-scorer Jeff Carter (broken foot) and veteran tough guy and key penalty killer Ian Laperriere (brain contusion, concussion). Agitator Dan Carcillo is also questionable for tonight after not playing in the third period and OT on Friday and missing practice this weekend with a knee injury, and defenseman Ryan Parent is questionable with a back injury. Goalies Leighton (high ankle sprain) and Emery (hip surgery) remain out, while defenseman Mike Rathje (back/hip) missed the entire season. The Bruins are without one of their best playmakers, as David Krejci is out for the rest of the postseason after needing surgery following Wednesday’s game when he suffered a dislocated wrist on a hit by Mike Richards in the first period. That comes on the heels of losing Marco Sturm in Game 1 when the Bruins’ leading goal-scorer this year suffered a torn ACL and MCL on the first shift of the series. He’ll miss the rest of the playoffs and likely a good chunk of next year as well. Seidenberg also remains out after forearm surgery, but fellow defenseman Mark Stuart (finger surgery) returned in Game 4. He replaced Adam McQuaid, who missed Game 4 and is doubtful again tonight after suffering a leg injury in Game 3.

Fight Card: There have been no fights in the first four games, and with the Flyers facing elimination it’s unlikely we’ll see any in this series as the message-sending portion of the series has passed. Both sides will continue to play a strong physical game with plenty of hitting and intensity, but neither team wants to risk taking any extra penalties by dropping the gloves at this point.

In the regular season, Thornton and Carcillo made fight history, with Carcillo dropping Thornton in the first regular-season outdoor fight in the NHL early in the Winter Classic at Fenway. Stuart also took on Carcillo, as well as Laperriere, on March 11, while the first meeting of the year featured unlikely combatants Ole-Kristian Tollefesen, since traded to Detroit, and Whitfield. The Flyers were second in the league in the regular season with 77 fighting majors, led by Laperriere (25), Carcillo (17) and Arron Asham (14). The Bruins were 17^th in the league with 47 fighting majors, led by Thornton’s 21. But it was Boston that had a league-high three fighting majors (Milan Lucic, Zdeno Chara, Vladimir Sobotka) in the first round while Philadelphia did not have any against the Devils.

Matchup to Watch: Marc Savard vs. Simon Gagne. The two elite playmakers each returned from serious injuries this series to spark their respective clubs, scoring game-winners in overtime in their first games back. Savard has added two assists in the last two games and is a plus-4 with 15 shots. Eight of those shots came in Game 4, the first game Boston had to play without Krejci. Savard played 24:17 in that game after playing just 15:16, 15:11 and 17:56 in his first three games back. He will need to continue to play a bigger role as the Bruins cope with the loss of Krejci. Gagne played just 16:25 in his return, but put seven shots on goal and was a plus-1. The Bruins will have to pay special attention to him tonight as he also continues to get his timing and rhythm back.

Three Keys for the B’s:

1. Strong start – The Flyers gained a glimmer of hope with their overtime win on Friday, and the Bruins can’t let them build off that and start thinking they can get back in this series. Boston needs to come out strong from the start, build an early lead and not let Philadelphia hang around. The Bruins have dominated the late going in the postseason, outscoring Buffalo and Philadelphia 15-6 in the third period. They can’t wait until the third to get going in this one though.

2. Get Stuart up to speed – Mark Stuart made his return in Game 4 after missing over a month following finger surgery and a serious infection, and he was the first to admit that his game wasn’t up to his normal standards. Stuart played just 9:46 with no shifts in the third or overtime, and didn’t have a shot or a hit but was a minus-2. He needs to be better than that, and with a game now under his belt he should be ready to log more minutes – and more quality minutes – on the blue line.

Bruins rookie goalie Tuukka Rask will look to rebound from a rare off-night in Game 4 with a strong showing tonight in Game 5. (photo: Getty)

3. Rask rebound – Rookie goalie Tuukka Rask is one of the primary reasons the Bruins made the playoffs and are on the brink of reaching the conference finals. But he’s coming off his first truly shaky game in the postseason, allowing a playoff-high five goals in the overtime loss. Rask allowed five goals just once in the regular season, in a 5-3 loss to Tampa Bay on March 25. He followed that with 33 minutes of scoreless relief of Tim Thomas against Buffalo and shut out New Jersey in a 1-0 win in his next start. The Bruins need him to bounce back the same way this time.

The Lowdown: The Bruins stumbled in their first chance to close out the series, but they are still just one win away from reaching the conference finals for the first time in 18 years. And they have a chance to get that win tonight on home ice, where they are 5-0 so far this postseason – the only team in the playoffs that has not lost at home. The Bruins also have history on their side, as only twice has an NHL team overcome a 3-0 deficit in a seven-game series – the Islanders against Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals in 1975 and Toronto against Detroit for the Cup in 1942. Of course, Boston fans are familiar with a much more recent comeback from a 3-0 deficit, having witnessed the Red Sox perform the feat against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS en route to the club’s first World Series title in 86 years. That magical comeback started at Fenway Park, where these two clubs also happened to meet earlier this season in the Winter Classic. The Bruins hope that’s the end of the similarities between those two series, and that they can take another big step toward ending a 38-year title drought of their own by closing out the series tonight.

Blake Wheeler scored his first career playoff goal in Game 3. Now he and the Bruins want to stay a step ahead of the Flyers and close out the series with a sweep tonight. (photo: Getty)

Matchup: Boston Bruins at Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m. (VERSUS; 98.5 FM)

Series Status: Bruins lead, 3-0, after pulling out a dramatic 5-4 win in overtime in Game 1 on Saturday, a 3-2 victory on Monday after Milan Lucic scored the winner with 2:57 remaining and a 4-1 win in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

Regular-Season Records: Boston 39-30-13, 91 points; Philadelphia 41-35-6, 88 points

Regular-Season Results: Boston took the season series 2-1-1. The Bruins pulled off their most memorable win of the year in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park on New Year’s Day, as Mark Recchi scored with 2:18 left in regulation and Marco Sturm scored in OT for a 2-1 win. The Flyers prevailed in the previous two meetings, winning 4-3 in a shootout in the first meeting in Philadelphia on Oct. 22, and rallying with three goals in the third for a 3-1 win in Boston on Dec. 14. The Bruins enjoyed the only blowout in the series, winning 5-1 in Philly on March 11 as Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists and Sturm, David Krejci and Blake Wheeler each had a goal and an assist.

Playoff Path: The sixth-seeded Bruins pulled off the upset of No. 3 Buffalo in the opening round, winning the series 4-2 with a 4-3 win in Game 6 at the Garden on April 26. Philadelphia pulled off an even bigger surprise, as the seventh-seeded Flyers ousted No. 2 New Jersey in just five games, capping off the series with a 3-0 shutout in New Jersey on April 22.

Past Playoff History: The Bruins and Flyers haven’t met in the postseason since 1978, which means the only current Bruins who were even alive for that last playoff meeting are Recchi, Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas, Miroslav Satan, Marc Savard, Shawn Thornton and Trent Whitfield. But there was a time when the fierce rivals clashed almost every year, as they played four times in a five-year stretch in the mid-70s, with both teams winning two series. Philadelphia won the first two meetings between the rivals, with the Broad Street Bullies prevailing 4-2 in the Stanley Cup finals in 1974 and 4-1 in the semifinals in 1976. The Bruins earned some revenge with a 4-0 sweep in the 1977 semifinals and a 4-1 win in the 1978 semifinals.

Bruins Connections: Flyers coach Peter Laviolette coached in the Bruins system, winning a Calder Cup in Providence in 1999, and served as an assistant in Boston in 2000-01. Recchi and injured defenseman Dennis Seidenberg each spent time with the Flyers. Recchi had two stints in Philadelphia, playing there from 1992-95 and 1999-2004, while Seidenberg came up with the Flyers, playing there from 2002-06.

New England Ties: Laviolette hails from Franklin, Mass. and played his college hockey at Westfield State. Goalie Brian Boucher is a Mount St. Charles product from Woonsocket, R.I. He took over as starting goalie after injuries to Ray Emery and Michael Leighton, and led all goalies in the first round with a 1.59 GAA and a .940 save percentage.  Rookie James van Riemsdyk hails from New Jersey, but he did play his college hockey at UNH. Peter Luukko, the president and chief operating officer of Flyers’ parent company Comcast-Spectacor, was born in Auburn, Mass.

David Krejci (46) showed his concern for teammate Marco Sturm in Game 1, but joined him on the injured list with a dislocated wrist suffered in Game 3. (photo: Getty)

Injury Update: It may be too late to change the course of the series, but the Flyers are starting to get healthy while the Bruins continue to suffer key losses. Philadelphia was hit hard in the opening round, losing leading goal-scorer Jeff Carter and playmaker Simon Gagne, who both suffered broken feet after getting hit by shots, while veteran tough guy and key penalty killer Ian Laperriere was hit in the face while blocking a shot and is out for the rest of the postseason with a brain contusion and concussion. But Gagne returned to practice yesterday, skating on a line with Mike Richards and Dan Carcillo, and is expected to return tonight. Goalies Leighton (high ankle sprain) and Emery (hip surgery) remain out, while defenseman Mike Rathje (back/hip) missed the entire season. The Bruins, however, will be without one of their best playmakers, as David Krejci is out for the rest of the postseason following surgery after Wednesday’s game when he suffered a dislocated wrist on a hit by Richards in the first period. That comes on the heels of losing Marco Sturm in Game 1 when the Bruins’ leading goal-scorer this year suffered a torn ACL and MCL on the first shift of the series. He’ll miss the rest of the playoffs and likely a good chunk of next year as well. Seidenberg also remains out after forearm surgery, but fellow defenseman Mark Stuart (finger surgery) could return in this game after practicing with the club the last several days. He was still awaiting final medical clearance. The Bruins could need him, as Adam McQuaid is doubtful for tonight after suffering a leg injury in Game 3.

Fight Card: There have been no fights in the first three games, but things are definitely getting heated. The biggest incident came in Game 2, when Flyers agitator Carcillo went after Marc Savard for taking a late swipe at Boucher’s glove after the goalie had snared a shot. Carcillo landed several punches as the rest of the players on the ice piled in, but the only penalty went to Savard for the initial slash. That wasn’t enough for Carcillo though, as he accused Savard of biting him during the scrum. Richards added some additional spice to the series with his hit on Krejci. Though there was nothing dirty about the hit, the results certainly caught the attention of the Bruins. In the regular season, Shawn Thornton and Carcillo made fight history, with Carcillo dropping Thornton in the first regular-season outdoor fight in the NHL early in the Winter Classic at Fenway. Stuart also took on Carcillo, as well as Laperriere, on March 11, while the first meeting of the year featured unlikely combatants Ole-Kristian Tollefesen, since traded to Detroit, and Whitfield. The Flyers were second in the league in the regular season with 77 fighting majors, led by Laperriere (25), Carcillo (17) and Arron Asham (14). The Bruins were 17^th in the league with 47 fighting majors, led by Thornton’s 21. But it was Boston that had a league-high three fighting majors (Milan Lucic, Zdeno Chara, Vladimir Sobotka) in the first round while Philadelphia did not have any against the Devils.

Tuukka Rask has been a difference maker for the Bruins all season. They'll need him to come up big again to close out the Flyers in Game 4 tonight. (photo: Getty)

Matchup to Watch: Tuukka Rask vs. Brian Boucher. Playoff games usually come down to goaltending, and Rask has proven the difference several times already in his inaugural postseason run, including Wednesday when he made 34 stops – 26 in the first two periods – to lead Boston to a 4-1 win. Boucher hasn’t been as sharp in this series (0-3, 3.46 GAA, .880 save percentage), but he outdueled Martin Brodeur in the first round, going 4-1 with a 1.59 GAA and a .940 save percentage, so he’s more than capable of stealing a game now. Rask, meanwhile, has been remarkably consistent. After leading the NHL with a 1.97 GAA and a .931 save percentage in the regular season, he was 4-2 with a 2.18 GAA and .927 save percentage against Buffalo in the first round and is 3-0 with a 2.17 GAA and a .928 save percentage in this series.

Three Keys for the B’s:

1. Finish it now – The Bruins have a commanding 3-0 lead in the series and four chances to close it out. But the Bruins don’t want to drag this out any longer than necessary. The banged-up B’s could use every bit of rest they can get before the conference finals. No amount of days off will be enough to get Krejci or Sturm back in the lineup, but it will help recharge the batteries with so many players logging extra minutes to fill in the gaps for their fallen teammates. Even though it’s highly unlikely for a team to climb out of a 3-0 hole, the Bruins also don’t want to give the Flyers any hope of getting back into the series with a win.

2. Replacing Krejci – The Bruins won’t be able to replace the talented two-way center who tied for the team lead with 52 points in the regular season and had 4-4-8 totals in nine playoff games. But they’ll need everyone to step up their games a bit to help cover his absence. The biggest responsibility falls on Vladimir Sobotka, who will likely take over between Miroslav Satan and Milan Lucic on what had become Boston’s most productive line of late. Sobotka is just 0-2-2 and a minus-6 in the playoffs after managing just 4-6-10 totals and a minus-7 in 61 games in the regular season. He’ll need to do more than that, while Savard will have to take on a bigger role once again and Satan and Lucic will have to prove they can score without Krejci setting them up.

3. Closing statement – The Bruins have owned the third period in the postseason so far. They’ve outscored opponents 13-5 in the third despite holding just a slim 90-83 advantage in shots in the final frame. That shows they haven’t dominated territorially, but they’ve been extremely opportunistic. That’s further displayed by their 2-0 record in overtime thus far. They may need another strong third period tonight as this is likely to be close one again as the Flyers will be determined not to see their season end with a sweep on home ice.

The Lowdown: The Bruins are just one win away from reaching the conference finals for the first time in 18 years, but as the Bruins have noted repeatedly the past two days – that fourth win is always the hardest the get. That could be especially true for the Bruins with the injuries they’ve suffered this series. Still, the Bruins are 16-0 when leading a series 3-0, and have won 12 of those series in four games. Philadelphia, meanwhile, is 0-6 when training 3-0, and have won Game 4 just once in that scenario. After playing rope-a-dope a bit with Buffalo in the first round when they led for just 19:40 in the entire six-game series, the Bruins have more than reversed that trend in this round. They have trailed for just 1:39 in the first three games, when the Flyers struck quickly in Game 3 with a goal 2:32 in, only to have the Bruins tie it at 4:11 and go ahead for good at 5:45 of the first. The Bruins would like to jump out to a quick lead again tonight and erase any thoughts of a Philly comeback early, then sit back and enjoy some much-needed rest before turning their attention to the conference finals.

Flyers forward Daniel Briere (left) has been a thorn in the side of goalie Tuukka Rask and the Bruins in the first two games. (photo: Getty)

Matchup: Boston Bruins at Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m. (VERSUS; 98.5 FM)

Series Status: Bruins lead, 2-0, after pulling out a dramatic 5-4 win in overtime in Game 1 on Saturday and a 3-2 victory on Monday after Milan Lucic scored the winner with 2:57 remaining.

Regular-Season Records: Boston 39-30-13, 91 points; Philadelphia 41-35-6, 88 points

Regular-Season Results: Boston took the season series 2-1-1. The Bruins pulled off their most memorable win of the year in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park on New Year’s Day, as Mark Recchi scored with 2:18 left in regulation and Marco Sturm scored in OT for a 2-1 win. The Flyers prevailed in the previous two meetings, winning 4-3 in a shootout in the first meeting in Philadelphia on Oct. 22, and rallying with three goals in the third for a 3-1 win in Boston on Dec. 14. The Bruins enjoyed the only blowout in the series, winning 5-1 in Philly on March 11 as Bergeron had a goal and two assists and Sturm, David Krejci and Blake Wheeler each had a goal and an assist.

Playoff Path: The sixth-seeded Bruins pulled off the upset of No. 3 Buffalo in the opening round, winning the series 4-2 with a 4-3 win in Game 6 at the Garden last Monday. Philadelphia pulled off an even bigger surprise, as the seventh-seeded Flyers ousted No. 2 New Jersey in just five games, capping off the series with a 3-0 shutout in New Jersey.

Past Playoff History: The Bruins and Flyers haven’t met in the postseason since 1978, which means the only current Bruins who were even alive for that last playoff meeting are Recchi, Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas, Miroslav Satan, Marc Savard, Shawn Thornton and Trent Whitfield. But there was a time when the fierce rivals clashed almost every year, as they played four times in a five-year stretch in the mid-70s, with both teams winning two series. Philadelphia won the first two meetings between the rivals, with the Broad Street Bullies prevailing 4-2 in the Stanley Cup finals in 1974 and 4-1 in the semifinals in 1976. The Bruins earned some revenge with a 4-0 sweep in the 1977 semifinals and a 4-1 win in the 1978 semifinals.

Bruins Connections: Flyers coach Peter Laviolette coached in the Bruins system, winning a Calder Cup in Providence in 1999, and served as an assistant in Boston in 2000-01. Recchi and injured defenseman Dennis Seidenberg each spent time with the Flyers. Recchi had two stints in Philadelphia, playing there from 1992-95 and 1999-2004, while Seidenberg came up with the Flyers, playing there from 2002-06.

New England Ties: Laviolette hails from Franklin, Mass. and played his college hockey at Westfield State. Goalie Brian Boucher is a Mount St. Charles product from Woonsocket, RI, and took over as starting goalie after injuries to Ray Emery and Michael Leighton, and led all goalies in the first round with a 1.59 GAA and a .940 save percentage.  Rookie James van Riemsdyk hails from New Jersey, but he did play his college hockey at UNH. Peter Luukko, the president and chief operating officer of Flyers’ parent company Comcast-Spectacor, was born in Auburn, Mass.

Injury Update: The Flyers were hit hard in the opening round, losing leading goal-scorer Jeff Carter and playmaker Simon Gagne, who both suffered broken feet after getting hit by shots, while veteran leader, tough guy and key penalty killer Ian Laperriere was hit in the face while blocked a shot. He needed over 60 stitches to close the resulting cut, but it’s a brain contusion and concussion from the incident that has him sidelined for the rest of the playoffs. Goalies Leighton (high ankle sprain) and Emery (hip surgery) remain out, while defenseman Mike Rathje (back/hip) missed the entire season. The Bruins finally got Marc Savard back in Game 1 for the first time since he suffered a Grade 2 concussion as the result of Matt Cooke’s cheap shot on March 7, but before he even took the ice Boston lost Marco Sturm. The club’s regular-season leading goal-scorer suffered a torn ACL and MCL on the game’s first shift. He’ll miss the rest of the playoffs and likely a good chunk of next year as well. Mark Stuart (finger surgery) has resumed skating with the team and could return later in this series, but has been ruled out for this game. Fellow defenseman Seidenberg (forearm surgery) also remains out.

Fight Card: There have been no fights in the first two games, but things are definitely getting heated. The biggest incident came in Game 2, when Flyers agitator Dan Carcillo went after Savard for taking a late swipe at Boucher’s glove after the goalie had snared a shot. Carcillo landed several punches as the rest of the players on the ice piled in, but the only penalty went to Savard for the initial slash. That wasn’t enough for Carcillo though, as he accused Savard of biting him during the scrum. Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton may want to have a discussion with Carcillo tonight about his antics. That pair already made fight history earlier this season, with Carcillo dropping Thornton in the first regular-season outdoor fight in the NHL early in the Winter Classic at Fenway. Stuart also took on Carcillo, as well as Laperriere, on March 11, while the first meeting of the year featured unlikely combatants Ole-Kristian Tollefesen, since traded to Detroit, and Whitfield. The Flyers were second in the league in the regular season with 77 fighting majors, led by Laperriere (25), Carcillo (17) and Arron Asham (14). The Bruins were 17^th in the league with 47 fighting majors, led by Thornton’s 21. But it was Boston that had a league-high three fighting majors (Milan Lucic, Zdeno Chara, Vladimir Sobotka) in the first round while Philadelphia did not have any against the Devils. The Bruins’ first fight in Round 1 didn’t come until Game 3, so it’s certainly not too late to get things going in this series.

Marc Savard may be looking over his shoulder for Dan Carcillo and Co. tonight in Philly. (photo: Getty)

Matchup to Watch: Marc Savard vs.Dan Carcillo. This unlikely feud is one Savard would be best served avoiding, as the trade-off of the Bruins’ skilled playmaker for the Flyers’ agitator certainly doesn’t favor the Bruins. But Savard might not have any choice, as Carcillo appears to have made it his goal to get under Savard’s skin this series. He tried to choke him in a Game 1 scrum, while in Game 2 Savard allegedly got back at him by chomping down on Carcillo’s digits. Only the Flyers could get Savard and Cooke to find common ground, as Cooke was accused of biting Asham back in January. Carcillo might have 859 penalty minutes in 225 career games, but he has some skill, too. His 12 goals this year would have ranked seventh on the Bruins, and he has 2-1-3 totals so far this postseason, including an overtime goal against New Jersey. Savard also scored in overtime in his first game back from the concussion Cooke gave him, so both have proven capable of scoring dramatic goals as well as causing drama.

Three Keys for the B’s:

1. Slow down Briere and Richards – The Bruins squeaked out a pair of one-goal wins in the first two games, but the Flyers have kept both games close largely thanks to this pair of forwards. Danny Briere has goals in four straight games and has 4-5-9 totals in that span, including two goals, two assists and 13 shots in the first two games against Boston. Mike Richards is just as hot, leading the Flyers with 4-8-12 totals through seven playoff games, including two goals and two assists against the Bruins. The Bruins have shut them down before, as they held them both scoreless and a combined minus-5 in four regular-season meetings this year. They need to do that again now when the games mean so much more.

2. Draw up a plan – The Bruins dominated the face-off circle in Game 2, winning 38 of 64 draws (59 percent), thanks largely to Patrice Bergeron (16-6, 73 percent). Bergeron started the game by winning all nine draws he took in the first period, including one he won back to Johnny Boychuk for the game’s first goal. Overall, the Bruins are second in the league in the playoffs as a team, winning 54.4 percent of their face-offs. They were second in the regular season too at 52.6 percent. Philadelphia hasn’t been as successful, ranking 10^th in the playoffs 948.8 percent) and 13^th in the regular season (50.1 percent), but the Flyers did have a slight 38-34 edge (53 percent) in Game 1 and they’ll have the edge as the home team in this one. The Bruins need to keep up their strong work in the face-off circle and continue to create offense off the draw.

3. Turn the power back on – After struggling mightily on the man-advantage without Savard in the regular season, the Bruins power play came alive in the playoffs. They went 6 for 22 (27.3 percent) against Buffalo and added another power-play goal on three tries in Game 1 against the Flyers, their fourth straight game with a power-play goal. But Boston slipped back into bad habits in Game 2, going 0 for 5 with just seven total shots, while Philadelphia managed several short-handed chances. Special teams are always vital in the postseason and the Flyers will take penalties with their style of play, so the Bruins have to make them pay on the power play.

The Lowdown: The Bruins have won the first two games, but it hasn’t been easy with a pair of one-goal victories – one in overtime and one with the winner coming in the final three minutes. And it’s not going to get any easier now that the series has shifted to Philadelphia. There are just two teams that remain unbeaten at home this postseason. The Bruins are one, having gone an impressive 5-0 at the Garden after struggling there much of the regular season. The other team is Philadelphia, though the Flyers have only played two home games so far. The Bruins need to put a blemish on that home record and take at least one of the next two games in Philly to take control of the series and have a chance to close it out in Boston in Game 5. If Philadelphia, which was also 24-14-3 at home in the regular season, holds serve in these two games at home, it will be a whole new series with the momentum on the Flyers’ side. A Bruins win tonight, however, would make it an almost insurmountable 3-0 lead as Boston tries to make it to the conference finals for the first time since 1992.

Patrice Bergeron (37) and the Bruins hope to put a few more pucks past Woonsocket, R.I. native Brian Boucher tonight when Boston hosts the Flyers in Game 2. (photo: Getty)

Matchup: Philadelphia Flyers at Boston Bruins, 7 p.m. (VERSUS; 98.5 FM)

Series Status: Bruins lead, 1-0, after pulling out a dramatic 5-4 win in overtime in Game 1 on Saturday.

Regular-Season Records: Boston 39-30-13, 91 points; Philadelphia 41-35-6, 88 points

Regular-Season Results: Boston took the season series 2-1-1. The Bruins pulled off their most memorable win of the year in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park on New Year’s Day, as Mark Recchi scored with 2:18 left in regulation and Marco Sturm scored in OT for a 2-1 win. The Flyers prevailed in the previous two meetings, winning 4-3 in a shootout in the first meeting in Philadelphia on Oct. 22, and rallying with three goals in the third for a 3-1 win in Boston on Dec. 14. The Bruins enjoyed the only blowout in the series, winning 5-1 in Philly on March 11 as Bergeron had a goal and two assists and Sturm, David Krejci and Blake Wheeler each had a goal and an assist.

Playoff Path: The sixth-seeded Bruins pulled off the upset of No. 3 Buffalo in the opening round, winning the series 4-2 with a 4-3 win in Game 6 at the Garden last Monday. Philadelphia pulled off an even bigger surprise, as the seventh-seeded Flyers ousted No. 2 New Jersey in just five games, capping off the series with a 3-0 shutout in New Jersey.

Past Playoff History: The Bruins and Flyers haven’t met in the postseason since 1978, which means the only current Bruins who were even alive for that last playoff meeting are Recchi, Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas, Miroslav Satan, Marc Savard, Shawn Thornton and Trent Whitfield. But there was a time when the fierce rivals clashed almost every year, as they played four times in a five-year stretch in the mid-70s, with both teams winning two series. Philadelphia won the first two meetings between the rivals, with the Broad Street Bullies prevailing 4-2 in the Stanley Cup finals in 1974 and 4-1 in the semifinals in 1976. The Bruins earned some revenge with a 4-0 sweep in the 1977 semifinals and a 4-1 win in the 1978 semifinals.

Bruins Connections: Flyers coach Peter Laviolette coached in the Bruins system, winning a Calder Cup in Providence in 1999, and served as an assistant in Boston in 2000-01. Recchi and injured defenseman Dennis Seidenberg each spent time with the Flyers. Recchi had two stints in Philadelphia, playing there from 1992-95 and 1999-2004, while Seidenberg came up with the Flyers, playing there from 2002-06.

New England Ties: Laviolette hails from Franklin, Mass. and played his college hockey at Westfield State. Goalie Brian Boucher is a Mount St. Charles product from Woonsocket, RI, and took over as starting goalie after injuries to Ray Emery and Michael Leighton, and led all goalies in the first round with a 1.59 GAA and a .940 save percentage.  Rookie James van Riemsdyk hails from New Jersey, but he did play his college hockey at UNH. Peter Luukko, the president and chief operating officer of Flyers’ parent company Comcast-Spectacor, was born in Auburn, Mass.

Injury Update: The Flyers were hit hard in the opening round, losing leading goal-scorer Jeff Carter and playmaker Simon Gagne, who both suffered broken feet after getting hit by shots, while veteran leader, tough guy and key penalty killer Ian Laperriere was hit in the face while blocked a shot. He needed over 60 stitches to close the resulting cut, but it’s a brain contusion and concussion from the incident that has him sidelined for the rest of the playoffs. Goalies Leighton (high ankle sprain) and Emery (hip surgery) remain out, while defenseman Mike Rathje (back/hip) missed the entire season. The Bruins finally got Marc Savard back in Game 1 for the first time since he suffered a Grade 2 concussion as the result of Matt Cooke’s cheap shot on March 7, but before he even took the ice Boston lost Marco Sturm. The club’s regular-season leading goal-scorer suffered a torn ACL and MCL on the game’s first shift. He’ll miss the rest of the playoffs and likely a good chunk of next year as well. Mark Stuart (finger surgery) has resumed skating on his own but is still out, as is fellow defenseman Seidenberg (forearm surgery).

Fight Card: There were no fights in the first game and not nearly as much nastiness as one would expect from two clubs known historically for their physical play. These teams did make fight history earlier this season, with Daniel Carcillo dropping Thornton in the first regular season outdoor fight in the NHL early in the Winter Classic at Fenway. Stuart also took on Carcillo, as well as Laperriere, on March 11, while the first meeting of the year featured unlikely combatants Ole-Kristian Tollefesen, since traded to Detroit, and Whitfield. The Flyers were second in the league in the regular season with 77 fighting majors, led by Ian Laperriere (25), Carcillo (17) and Asham (14), while heavyweight Riley Cote has just four fights in limited action. The Bruins were 17^th in the league with 47 fighting majors, led by Thornton’s 21. But it was Boston that had a league-high three fighting majors (Milan Lucic, Zdeno Chara, Vladimir Sobotka) in the first round while Philadelphia did not have any against the Devils. This series is sure to be physical and could feature a bout or two, but don’t expect too much with Laperriere out. Things might pick up a little with Thornton likely back in the lineup to replace Sturm after being a healthy scratch in Game 1.

Bruins forward Mark Recchi (28) and Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger will renew acquaintances tonight in Game 2 at the Garden. (photo: Getty)

Matchup to Watch: Mark Recchi vs. Chris Pronger. The two veterans have each won Cups and are providing leadership for their respective teams in their quests for another. That brought them into frequent contact in front of the Philadelphia net in Game 1, leading to several scrums and shoving matches. The most intense came midway through the third period, when the 5-foot-10, 195-pound Recchi got his helmet ripped off by the 6-foot-6, 220-pound Pronger, but went right back after the big blueliner. Recchi ended up with the extra minor in that altercation, and Mike Richards scored on the ensuing power play. But Recchi had the last laugh, as he was a plus-2 with an assist, five shots and two hits in Boston’s overtime victory. The 42-year-old winger continues to defy the aging process with 3-3-6 totals in seven games this postseason. Pronger, 35, had a goal and an assist on Saturday, along with two shots and three hits, but was also a minus-2 in the loss. He does have 3-4-7 totals in six playoff games this year, and with Recchi loving to set up shop in front of the net and Pronger relishing clearing out intruders in the crease with authority, these two are sure to continue their battles tonight.

Three Keys for the B’s:

1. Protect leads – The Bruins proved adept at rallying from behind against the Sabres, but they’ve struggled to handle prosperity any time they’ve built a lead of late. In Game 6 against Buffalo, they led 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2, only to have the Sabres answer with the next goal each time before the B’s held on for the 4-3 win. In Game 1 against the Flyers, Boston again jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period and led 3-1 and 4-2 again, only to see Philadelphia rally to force overtime. If the Bruins are able to get ahead in this one, they have to do a better job of protecting that lead and put the Flyers away by continuing to press the attack.

2. Get shots through – The Bruins haven’t been shy about firing away with shots in the postseason. They’ve averaged 70.3 shot attempts a game, while opponents have had just 54.7 attempts against them. But Boston has managed to get barely half of those shots on net. They’re averaging a solid 35.9 shots a game, but that doesn’t look as good when compared with 18.7 attempts blocked and 15.7 missing the net each night. While the Sabres had a lot to do with that with 112 blocked shots in Round 1, the Bruins haven’t been as willing to pay the price with just 77 blocks in the round. The Flyers had 19 blocks to Boston’s 16 in Game 1, but Philadelphia might be a little leering of blocking too many shots after losing Carter, Gagne and Laperriere in the opening round.

3. Slow the Flyers transition game – The Flyers may have had fewer shot attempts than the Bruins in Game 1, but the ones they did put on Tuukka Rask were often more dangerous. Many of those chances came off Philadelphia’s transition game, which led to several odd-man breaks and breakaways. Carcillo nearly ended it early in overtime with a clean breakaway, while Richards also broke in alone in the third. Rask stopped both of those, but couldn’t get Danny Briere’s tying goal late in the third. The Bruins were back for that one, but didn’t stand up at the blue line as Briere split Dennis Wideman and Matt Hunwick to get in alone on Rask. Boston can’t let the Flyers gain entry into the zone with speed and the Bruins have to defend against the home run passes the Flyers love to attempt when their forwards sneak behind the defense.

The Lowdown: The Bruins nearly let Game 1 get away from them, but escaped with the win thanks to Savard’s dramatic overtime goal in his first game back. Boston would like to have a little more breathing room in this one, and end it in regulation rather than going through another marathon affair after two of the last three games in the Garden have gone into overtime. But the Bruins will take any kind of win they cane, as they look to maintain home ice advantage and take a 2-0 lead before the series shifts to Philadelphia.

Patrice Bergeron and the Bruins beat Chris Pronger (left) and the Flyers at Fenway Park, but now they meet again with a trip to the conference finals at stake. (photo: Getty)

Matchup: Philadelphia Flyers at Boston Bruins, 12:30 p.m. (NBC; 98.5 FM)

Regular-Season Records: Boston 39-30-13, 91 points; Philadelphia 41-35-6, 88 points

Regular-Season Results: Boston took the season series 2-1-1. The Bruins pulled off their most memorable win of the year in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park on New Year’s Day, as Mark Recchi scored with 2:18 left in regulation and Marco Sturm scored in OT for a 2-1 win. The Flyers prevailed in the previous two meetings, winning 4-3 in a shootout in the first meeting in Philadelphia on Oct. 22, and rallying with three goals in the third for a 3-1 win in Boston on Dec. 14. The Bruins enjoyed the only blowout in the series, winning 5-1 in Philly on March 11 as Bergeron had a goal and two assists and Sturm, David Krejci and Blake Wheeler each had a goal and an assist.

Playoff Path: The sixth-seeded Bruins pulled off the upset of No. 3 Buffalo in the opening round, winning the series 4-2 with a 4-3 win in Game 6 at the Garden on Monday. Philadelphia pulled off an even bigger surprise, as the seventh-seeded Flyers ousted No. 2 New Jersey in just five games, capping off the series with a 3-0 shutout in New Jersey last Thursday.

Past Playoff History: The Bruins and Flyers haven’t met in the postseason since 1978, which means the only current Bruins who were even alive for that last playoff meeting are Recchi, Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas, Miroslav Satan, Marc Savard, Shawn Thornton and Trent Whitfield. But there was a time when these fierce rivals clashed almost every year, as they played four times in a five-year stretch in the mid-70s, with both teams winning two series. Philadelphia won the first two meetings between the rivals, with the Broad Street Bullies prevailing 4-2 in the Stanley Cup finals in 1974 and 4-1 in the semifinals in 1976. The Bruins earned some revenge with a 4-0 sweep in the 1977 semifinals and a 4-1 win in the 1978 semifinals.

Bruins Connections: Flyers coach Peter Laviolette coached in the Bruins system, winning a Calder Cup in Providence in 1999, and served as an assistant in Boston in 2000-01. Recchi and injured defenseman Dennis Seidenberg each spent time with the Flyers. Recchi had two stints in Philadelphia, playing there from 1992-95 and 1999-2004, while Seidenberg came up with the Flyers, playing there from 2002-06.

New England Ties: Laviolette hails from Franklin, Mass. and played his college hockey at Westfield State. Goalie Brian Boucher is a Mount St. Charles product from Woonsocket, RI. He took over as starting goalie after injuries to Ray Emery and Michael Leighton, and led all goalies in the first round with a 1.59 GAA and a .940 save percentage.  Rookie James van Riemsdyk hails from New Jersey, but he did play his college hockey at UNH. Peter Luukko, the president and chief operating officer of Flyers’ parent company Comcast-Spectacor, was born in Auburn, Mass.

Injury Update: The Flyers were hit hard in the opening round, losing leading goal-scorer Jeff Carter and playmaker Simon Gagne, who both suffered broken feet after getting hit by shots, while veteran leader, tough guy and key penalty killer Ian Laperriere was hit in the face while blocking a shot. He needed over 60 stitches to close the resulting cut, but it’s a brain contusion and concussion from the incident that has him sidelined for the rest of the playoffs. Arron Asham also suffered a facial laceration against the Devils, but is expected to play. Goalies Leighton (high ankle sprain) and Emery (hip surgery) remain out, while defenseman Mike Rathje (back/hip) missed the entire season. The Bruins will finally get Marc Savard back for the first time since he suffered a Grade 2 concussion as the result of Matt Cooke’s cheap shot on March 7. Mark Stuart (finger surgery) has resumed skating on his own but is still out, as is fellow defenseman Seidenberg (forearm surgery).

Fight Card: These teams made fight history this season, with Daniel Carcillo dropping Thornton in the first regular season outdoor fight in the NHL early in the Winter Classic at Fenway. Stuart also took on Carcillo, as well as Laperriere on March 11, while the first meeting of the year featured unlikely combatants Ole-Kristian Tollefesen, since traded to Detroit, and Whitfield. The Flyers were second in the league in the regular season with 77 fighting majors, led by Laperriere (25), Carcillo (17) and Asham (14). The Bruins were 17^th in the league with 47 fighting majors, led by Thornton’s 21. But it was Boston that had a league-high three fighting majors (Milan Lucic, Zdeno Chara, Vladimir Sobotka) in the first round while Philadelphia did not have any against the Devils. This series is sure to be physical and could feature a bout or two, but don’t expect too much with Laperriere out and Thornton a likely scratch to make room for Savard in the lineup.

Matchup to Watch: Mike Richards vs. Patrice Bergeron. The former Team Canada teammates won’t be on such friendly terms in this one, as two of the top two-way centermen in the league go head-to-head. Richards is red hot, with 2-6-8 totals in five games against New Jersey after leading the Flyers with 31-31-62 totals in the regular season. He has 6-6-12 totals in 17 career games against the Bruins, but was held without a point in the four meetings this season. Bergeron also led the Bruins in the regular season with 19-33-52 totals, and added a 2-3-5 line in the first round against Buffalo, scoring his first two playoff goals since his rookie year in 2004. In 19 career games against Philadelphia he has 15 points, including four in the last two games this year. But Bergeron’s biggest role in this series may be on the defensive end shutting down Richards, whose scoring is even more important now for Philadelphia with Carter and Gagne out.

Three Keys for the B’s:

1. Strong start – The Bruins gave up the first goal in the first five games of the Buffalo series, with the Sabres striking within the first seven minutes each time. They can’t afford to fall behind like that against the Flyers, though the Flyers only scored the first goal twice against the Devils themselves. Philadelphia is also coming off an extended break after wrapping up their series back on April 22, and the Flyers will likely need a little time to shake off the rust from that layoff. The Bruins, in turn, need to take advantage of that and set the tone early in this one.

2. Traffic in front – This was an obvious need against Ryan Miller, and the Bruins did a good job of crashing the net and getting bodies in front for screens, tips and rebounds. Boucher doesn’t have the same kind of name recognition as the Olympic hero and Vezina favorite, but the Bruins would be making a mistake to think it won’t take the same kind of effort to score against Boucher, who actually put up better numbers against Ilya Kovalchuk and the Devils than Miller did against the offensively-challenged Bruins.

3. Stand up to the bullies – The current Flyers aren’t quite the brawlers of Broad Street Bullies past, but they do play an extremely physical game, with Chris Pronger setting the tone on the blue line and Carcillo and Scott Hartnell causing havoc on the forecheck. The Bruins have to stand up to that punishment and dish plenty out themselves. But they also have to be smart about it and not take the bait when the Flyers cross the line and take bad retaliatory penalties.

The Lowdown: The Bruins get back to work after a four-day layoff looking to pick up where they left off after beating Buffalo in the opening round. They get an unexpected bonus with home ice thanks to Philadelphia and Montreal also knocking off top seeds. The last time an Eastern Conference team hosted a playoff series as a six seed was the Bruins back in 1999 against Buffalo, but Boston hopes this series ends better than that one. The Bruins have only reached the second round once since then, losing last year to Carolina in overtime in Game 7. They haven’t reached the conference finals since 1992, but have a chance to change that this year against a short-handed, but still dangerous, Philly club. A win today at home in Game 1 will certainly help that cause.

Tyler Ennis (63) has been a surprising scoring star and pest to Tuukka Rask and the Bruins all series long, but Boston will try to send him and Sabres home tonight. (photo: Getty)

Matchup: Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins, 7 p.m. (NESN; 98.5 FM)

Series Status: Bruins lead, 3-2.

Regular-Season Records: Boston 39-30-13, 91 points; Buffalo 45-27-10, 100 points

Regular-Season Results: Boston took the season series 4-2-0, though one win was in overtime and another was in a shootout. The Bruins won the first two meetings this season with a 4-2 victory at the Garden on Nov. 7 and a 2-1 overtime win in Buffalo on Nov. 20 on the strength of Patrice Bergeron’s OT winner. The Sabres countered with a 2-1 win of their own in Buffalo on Jan. 29, but Boston won 3-2 in a shootout in Buffalo on Feb. 9. The Sabres jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the Bruins on March 29, driving Tim Thomas from the game, then held on for a 3-2 win. Boston took the final clash at the Garden on April 8, winning 3-1 as Miroslav Satan, Dennis Wideman and Mark Recchi scored and Tuukka Rask made 31 saves.

Past Playoff History: The Bruins have won five of the seven playoff series between the division rivals, but Buffalo has won the two most recent. The last time they met, the Sabres prevailed 4-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals in 1999, which was the last time Boston advanced past the first round until sweeping Montreal last spring. Buffalo also won in the first round in 1993, sweeping Boston 4-0 in an Adams Division clash. Boston won 4-3 in 1992, 4-1 in 1989 and 4-2 in 1988 in other first-round Adams clashes. The Bruins also won 4-3 on the strength of Brad Park’s overtime goal in Game 7 in an Adams Division final in 1983, and won 3-1 in a first-round meeting in 1982.

Bruins Connections: Steve Montador was a trade deadline pickup last March from Anaheim, but signed with the Sabres in the offseason. In 78 games in Buffalo, he had 5-18-23 totals – second only to Tyler Myers among Sabres defensemen – and added 75 penalty minutes. He has made his presence felt in this series with a goal in Game 4, a team-high 12 blocked shots and 18 hits.

New England Ties: Former Boston University star Mike Grier (Holliston, Mass.) also signed with Buffalo over the summer. It’s Grier’s second stint with the Sabres, and he was 10-12-22 in 73 games. He had just one goal in his last 37 games of the regular season, but has scored a pair in the series and leads the Sabres with 30 hits. Former Boston College star Nathan Gerbe had 2-3-5 totals in 10 games this season with Buffalo, and made his playoff debut in Game 5 and had an assist.

Injury Update: The Sabres may get Thomas Vanek back after their top goal-scorer missed the last three games with a left foot injury suffered in Game 2. But Jochen Hecht (upper body) is not expected to play in the series and Matt Ellis remains questionable. He missed Games 4 and 5 after getting rocked by Johnny Boychuk with a huge open-ice hit in Game 3. For the Bruins, Marc Savard remains out with a concussion, but has resumed skating and could return soon. Defensemen Mark Stuart (finger surgery) and Dennis Seidenberg (forearm surgery) are out for the series.

Fight Card: After two games without a fight to open the series, each of the last three contests has featured a bout. The gloves finally came off for the first time late in Game 3 with the unlikely matchup of Vladimir Sobotka and Buffalo defenseman Andrej Sekera. In Game 4, it was a less surprising pair involved, as Milan Lucic landed some big rights in a bout with Sabres captain Craig Rivet. Game 5 ended with more hostilities, as Zdeno Chara took exception to a Paul Gaustad slash and started swinging. Chara wasn’t able to land anything before being tackled by several Sabres. Chara received the only fighting major, as well as an instigator call, which would have earned him a suspension for tonight’s game, but the NHL rescinded the call after the game and Chara is eligible to play in this one. The clubs also had five fights in their six regular-season meetings this year. Buffalo finished 27^th in the league with just 26 fighting majors this year, led by Montador’s seven, but before Game 4 the Sabres also recalled Cody McCormick, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound forward who had 168 penalty minutes and 11 fighting majors with Portland this season. The Bruins were 17^th in the NHL with 47 fights, led by Shawn Thornton’s 21.

Matchup to Watch: Zdeno Chara vs. Paul Gaustad. Think there might be some unfinished business left over from their last-second melee on Friday? Gaustad started that scrap with his slash to the back of Chara’s legs, but he backed off quickly when the big guy dropped the gloves looking for payback, only to start the tough guy act again once a bevy of Buffalo teammates had tackled Chara and the linesmen jumped in to keep everyone apart. These two have clashed before, with a running feud throughout their regular season meetings, and they’re sure to have a few more run-ins tonight. Gaustad is a valuable checking-line center for the Sabres with 17 hits, eight blocked shots and an assist while averaging 19:21 in the series, but Chara (2 goals, assist, 16 hits, 8 blocked shots, 29:05 average ice-time) is far more important to the Bruins. So the Bruins captain can’t let Gaustad continue to get under his skin and take him off the ice with penalties.

Under the radar: Tyler Ennis is one Sabre who hasn’t gotten a lot of attention, but he’s worth watching tonight. At 5-foot-9, 163 pounds, Ennis is easy to miss, but he’s been on target in this series. He’s the surprising scoring leader for the Sabres with 1-3-4 totals and also leads Buffalo with 17 shots while averaging 17:05 of ice-time. That includes a goal and an assist in Game 5, when he finished plus-2 with six shots. This didn’t exactly come out of nowhere, as the rookie had 3-6-9 totals in 10 regular-season games. He had a goal in the only game of his first callup in November, then returned in late March and played the final nine games of the regular season. Two of those games were against Boston, and he was held without a point and was minus-3 in those games. The Bruins need to shut him down that way again tonight.

Three Keys for the B’s:

1. Don’t let Buffalo bring this one home – The Bruins had plenty of success on the road in the regular season and struggled mightily at the Garden in the second half of the year. But the playoffs are a different animal, and the support of the home crowd came in handy in winning the first two games at the Garden. The Bruins wrested home ice from the Sabres by stealing one of the first two up in Buffalo, but taking a Game 7 in hostile territory would be a tall task, especially since that would mean the Sabres would be riding high with two straight wins. No, if the Bruins are going to take this series, they have to take care of business tonight on home ice. They can start by finally playing with a lead, as Buffalo has jumped out early with the opening goal in the first seven minutes of all five games so far.

2. Reinforcements ready? – Buffalo could get its top scoring threat Thomas Vanek back in this one, though he’ll likely be at less than 100 percent as he tries to return from an ankle injury. The Bruins probably won’t get a Willis Reed like return from Marc Savard to spark them, at least not in this game. The club’s top offensive player is getting close to a return from the Grade 2 concussion that has sidelined him since March 7. The Sabres have shuffled their lineup several times already, getting an energy boost in Game 4 by inserting tough guy Cody McCormick (2 assists, 9 hits in 2 games) and another spark in Game 5 by adding Nathan Gerbe (assist, 4 shots). So far the Bruins have stuck with the same lineup in every game, but will Claude Julien look to shake things up after the loss in Buffalo on Friday?

3. Hit parade – For two teams that didn’t feature much physical play on a regular basis in the regular season, this series has been a nasty, hard-hitting affair. They’ve combined for 397 hits through five games, an average of 79.4 a game. Buffalo has a 209-188 edge so far, with most of that coming from a 45-25 advantage in Game 5. The Bruins came out flat on Friday and the Sabres took it too them. They can’t afford to do that again tonight. Boston needs to be the team setting the tone, as it did earlier in the series when Johnny Boychuk and Vladimir Sobotka were driving the Sabres to distraction – and sometimes to the training room – with their aggressive play. They need to get back to that tonight, with Milan Lucic and Zdeno Chara also bringing the pain as they’re capable of doing. But everyone needs to finish their hits and force turnovers with a strong forecheck.

The Lowdown: The Bruins remain in control of the series up 3-2, but don’t think that they’ve outplayed the Sabres by any wide margin. The two clubs have been virtual mirror images of each other. They’ve each scored 12 goals in the series. Buffalo’s have come early, with a 7-1 edge in the first period. The Bruins have balanced that with late rallies, outscoring the Sabres 7-1 in the third. Tuukka Rask and Ryan Miller have identical 2.03 goals-against averages, with Miller’s .936 save percentage just slightly better than Rask’s .933, but Rask has the extra win to more than balance that out. Boston has outshot Buffalo 173-164 despite the Sabres’ 59-44 edge in the first period. Boston’s advantage would be even greater, but the Sabres have blocked 98 shots in the series, compared to just 67 for Boston. That’s an effort stat, and the Bruins need to improve in that area after a distinct lack of urgency and desperation in their game on Friday. The Bruins are actually minus-22 as a team, with 13 players a minus so far in the series, four skaters even and only Patrice Bergeron a plus at plus-1. Buffalo, meanwhile, is plus-20 as a team, with 15 players sporting plusses, four even and only two a minus (Tim Connolly and Jason Pominville both at minus-1). The difference so far has been on special teams. The Bruins, who struggled so mightily without Savard on the power play in the regular season, are 4 for 17 (23.5 percent) in the series, while Buffalo has failed to score on 16 chances. The Bruins have three of those power-play goals in the last two games, and they’ve also had 11 chances with the man-advantage to Buffalo’s four in Games 4 and 5.

History is on the Bruins’ side, as they are 14-1 when going up 3-1 in a best of seven series, while Buffalo is 0-11 when trailing 3-1. That includes head-to-head matchups in the old Adams Division days in 1989 and 1992. Of course, Buffalo has already bucked that trend once by winning Game 5, but Boston is still 16-3 when up 3-2 in a seven-game series. They’ve only won nine of the 19 Game 6s in that scenario, however, so this one might not end tonight. The Bruins might need it to though. They don’t want to have to face the Sabres in a winner-take-all Game 7 back up in Buffalo, which makes this one a must-win for both sides.

Zdeno Chara (right) and the Bruins hope to trip up Tyler Myers and the Sabres one final time in Game 5 tonight in Buffalo. (photo: Getty)

Matchup: Boston Bruins at Buffalo Sabres, 7 p.m. (NESN; 98.5 FM)

Series Status: Bruins lead, 3-1.

Regular-Season Records: Boston 39-30-13, 91 points; Buffalo 45-27-10, 100 points

Regular-Season Results: Boston took the season series 4-2-0, though one win was in overtime and another was in a shootout. The Bruins won the first two meetings this season with a 4-2 victory at the Garden on Nov. 7 and a 2-1 overtime win in Buffalo on Nov. 20 on the strength of Patrice Bergeron’s OT winner. The Sabres countered with a 2-1 win of their own in Buffalo on Jan. 29, but Boston won 3-2 in a shootout in Buffalo on Feb. 9. The Sabres jumped out to a 3-0 lead on the Bruins on March 29, driving Tim Thomas from the game, then held on for a 3-2 win. Boston took the final clash at the Garden on April 8, winning 3-1 as Miroslav Satan, Dennis Wideman and Mark Recchi scored and Tuukka Rask made 31 saves.

Past Playoff History: The Bruins have won five of the seven playoff series between the division rivals, but Buffalo has won the two most recent. The last time they met, the Sabres prevailed 4-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals in 1999, which was the last time Boston advanced past the first round until sweeping Montreal last spring. Buffalo also won in the first round in 1993, sweeping Boston 4-0 in an Adams Division clash. Boston won 4-3 in 1992, 4-1 in 1989 and 4-2 in 1988 in other first-round Adams clashes. The Bruins also won 4-3 on the strength of Brad Park’s overtime goal in Game 7 in an Adams Division final in 1983, and won 3-1 in a first-round meeting in 1982.

Bruins Connections: Steve Montador was a trade deadline pickup last March from Anaheim, but signed with the Sabres in the offseason. In 78 games in Buffalo, he had 5-18-23 totals – second only to Tyler Myers among Sabres defensemen – and added 75 penalty minutes.

New England Ties: Former Boston University star Mike Grier (Holliston, Mass.) also signed with Buffalo over the summer. It’s Grier’s second stint with the Sabres, and he was 10-12-22 in 73 games, but has just one goal in his last 37 games. Former Boston College star Nathan Gerbe had 2-3-5 totals in 10 games this season with Buffalo, but he’s currently down with their AHL affiliate in Portland.

Injury Update: The Sabres are likely to still be without Thomas Vanek, who suffered a left foot injury in Game 2, while Jochen Hecht (upper body) is not expected to play in the series. Buffalo did get Drew Stafford (concussion) back in Game 3, but Matt Ellis missed Game 4 after getting rocked by Johnny Boychuk with a huge open-ice hit on Monday. For the Bruins, Marc Savard remains out with a concussion, but has resumed skating and could return later in the playoffs. Defensemen Mark Stuart (finger surgery) and Dennis Seidenberg (forearm surgery) are also out for the series.

Fight Card: After two games without a fight to open the series, each of the last two contests has featured a bout. The gloves finally came off for the first time late in Game 3 with the unlikely matchup of Vladimir Sobotka and Buffalo defenseman Andrej Sekera. In Game 4, it was a less surprising pair involved, as Milan Lucic landed some big rights in a scrap with Sabres captain Craig Rivet. Both of those fights were in Boston. Don’t the Buffalo fans deserve to see at least one more scrap before their season is over? The clubs also had five fights in their six regular-season meetings this year. Buffalo finished 27^th in the league with just 26 fighting majors this year, led by Montador’s seven, but before Game 4 the Sabres also recalled Cody McCormick, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound forward who had 168 penalty minutes and 11 fighting majors with Portland this season. The Bruins were 17^th in the NHL with 47 fights, led by Shawn Thornton’s 21.

Matchup to Watch: Vladimir Sobotka vs. Mike Grier. There might not be a lot of similarities between this two at first glance. Sobotka is a 22-year-old from the Czech Republic who barely tips the scales at 5-foot-10, 183 pounds. Grier is 35 and hails from Holliston, Mass. and the 6-foot-1, 227-pounder is built more like one of the football players his father Bobby used to scout for the Patriots and Texans as an NFL executive. But Sobotka and Grier have had a similar impact in this series. Grier leads the Sabres with 25 hits through four games, while Sobotka has 23 to lead the Bruins. The only players with more hits than either of them in the playoffs are Jarkko Ruutu (27), Mike Fisher (24) and Brooks Orpik (24), who have all played five games. Grier also has a goal, 14 shots and six blocked shots while averaging 19:31 a game. Sobotka has two assists, has won 55.6 percent of his face-offs and is plus-1 while averaging 14:20 a game. Whichever one can continue to disrupt the opposition most effectively will have a major impact on this game.

Three Keys for the B’s:

1. Finish it now – The Bruins have all the momentum now, having won three straight, including Wednesday’s dramatic rally in the third period, followed by finally pulling out the dramatic victory in double OT. The Sabres are reeling after that one, and the Bruins can’t afford to let them regain any hope. Boston is 17-1 in series when leading 3-1, but that one loss came the last time Boston led 3-1 in a series – after an overtime win in Game 4 no less – and Montreal rallied to beat the Bruins. Boston nearly did the same thing to Montreal in 2008 and Carolina last year, forcing seventh games after falling behind 3-1, so the Bruins should no this one is far from over and need to come with their best effort yet tonight.

2. Keep Roy quiet – Buffalo center Derek Roy has long been a thorn in the Bruins’ side, with 33 points in 40 career games against Boston in the regular season. And he added an assist in Game 1 of this series. But he’s been invisible since, with no points in the last three games, all of which the Sabres lost. He’s capable of catching fire though, as he ended the regular season with 7-6-13 totals in his final nine games, with the lone goal in a 3-1 loss to the Bruins and an assist on the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over Boston in that stretch. The Bruins can’t allow him to get back on track and be a difference maker again.

3. Get Wheels rolling – With an offense that sputtered most of the season, the Bruins – even though they’ve managed just enough scoring to take a 3-1 series lead – can’t afford to have any of their limited arsenal firing blanks. Blake Wheeler has been doing that for the past month. He had just one goal in his final 14 games in the regular season, and has also failed to score in the first four games of this series. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Wheeler hasn’t done much else to make up for that lack of scoring, with a team-low one hit in the four games and just one blocked shot. He was the only Bruins without a hit in Wednesday’s marathon and also has just 10 shots in the series (and five of those came in Game 1), despite averaging 15:01 of ice-time. The Bruins need a lot more production from him, or he could find himself benched as he was last year, when he had no points, seven hits and just four shots in eight playoff games before being relegated to the press box against Carolina.

The Lowdown: The Bruins have a chance to complete an upset that would have seemed unlikely a few short weeks ago. Of course, if they had played the way they’ve played in this series all season long, there would be nothing surprising about the Bruins being in control of their first-round playoff matchup. The Bruins have successfully put their disappointing regular season behind them and are one win away from winning a playoff series for just the second time since 1999. That playoff run in 1999 ended against Buffalo. This year they have a chance to start something special here against the Sabres.