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The good, the bad, the potentially ugly: Tonight’s games run gauntlet of possibilities

Boston Bruins v Montreal Canadiens - Game Three

MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 18: Travis Moen #32 of the Montreal Canadiens chases after Zdeno Chara #33 of the Boston Bruins as he turns up ice with the puck in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre on April 18, 2011 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images)

Phillip MacCallum

After a wild night last night with five games, things cool off just a bit with three games set for tonight.

In them we’ve got the good in Montreal with the Bruins looking to even things up with the Canadiens. There’s the bad with the bad blood flowing through Vancouver as the Blackhawks again look to stave off elimination. Then we’ve got the ugly that sees the L.A. Kings trying to find a way to stop the Sharks from scoring and tying up their series again.

Someone call Ennio Morricone to provide tonight’s soundtrack. All times are Eastern.

Boston @ Montreal - 7 p.m. (Versus) - Montreal leads series 2-1

It would almost make sense to have these teams head to a Game 5 tied after beating each other’s heads in on the road. Montreal would love to see that not happen and find a way to go back to Boston with a chance to eliminate the Bruins on their ice. The B’s will be hoping to see Milan Lucic find a comfort zone and start producing more hits and offense. Montreal will need to be a bit more careful with the puck and find a way to get on the board first to start putting their brand of torturous defense into effect on Boston as soon as possible. The Habs thrive when they force their opponents to work uphill to win games.

The x-factor in this game for Boston could be Tim Thomas. Thomas needs another strong game in goal to give the Bruins more of their swagger back so they can let loose and stay physical all game. With some of the goals he’s given up in the playoffs it’s made Boston’s defense a bit jumpy. If he settles in, the Bruins will give Montreal fits all game.

Chicago @ Vancouver - 10 p.m. (Versus) - Vancouver leads series 3-1

Things escalated out of control quickly for Vancouver in Game 4 as they looked to end things on the road. Instead, Chicago blasted the Canucks all game long and help reintroduce some heat between these two teams. It also helped spark an enlightening war of words between John Scott and Kevin Bieksa.

While we don’t expect those two to settle their differences anytime soon, especially with Brent Seabrook looking at a return for this game, we are expecting that Vancouver will again have a fight on their hands. If the Canucks can relax and not get spooked out by the ghosts of playoffs past that made an appearance in Game 4, they can wrap things up at home. If not, things get really interesting in all the wrong ways for Vancouver.

San Jose @ Los Angeles - 10:30 p.m. - San Jose leads series 2-1

So just what can the Sharks do for an encore in Hollywood? After storming back from being down 4-0 in Game 3 and going on to win in overtime, there’s really no other way for San Jose to top what they did without casting serious doubt on what they can do against better teams. As it is, Antti Niemi is on notice after a pair of less-than-stellar appearances in a row.

Luckily for him the Kings defense and Dustin Penner have had a hard time, especially in Game 3. Jon Quick can only do so many things to help out in goal and while the offense has been there for the most part, getting some of that traditional tough defense from a Terry Murray coached team would be nice. We’ll get to see how mentally tough they are tonight after such a tough loss in the last game.