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Playoffs Tonight: Bruins know series vs Rangers isn’t over

Rangers vs Bruins

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 21: Derek Stepan #21 of the New York Rangers and Jaromir Jagr #68 of the Boston Bruins fight for the puck in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 21, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

We got a full night of NHL hockey ahead of us and the Boston Bruins might even secure a spot in the Eastern Conference finals.

Please keep in mind that all of tonight’s games can be watched online in addition to the channels listed below.

New York Rangers host Boston Bruins (7:00 p.m. ET, CNBC)
Boston leads series 3-0

No one understands better than the Boston Bruins that a series isn’t over until it’s over.

“It would be nice,” David Krejci told the Boston Globe when asked about the possibility of avoiding a Game 5. “But we know and we learned as a team that the last one is the hardest from past years and even in the last series. We’ve just got to get ready for tomorrow and play just like it’s Game 1.”

The Bruins have managed to get by without defensemen Dennis Seidenberg, Wade Redden, and Andrew Ference thanks in part to the rise of young and relatively inexperienced blueliners like Matt Bartkowski. Bartkowski’s success in particular has to be gratifying to Bruins fans, given that he was linked to Boston’s ultimately failed bid to acquire Jarome Iginla.

The New York Rangers might need boost from their depth blueliners as well. Marc Staal has only played once since March 5 due to his eye injury and now they might be forced to continue without defenseman Anton Stralman.

Needless to say, the Rangers situation looks bleak, but right now, they just have to focus on getting one win.

Detroit Red Wings host Chicago Blackhawks (8:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN)
Detroit leads series 2-1

Chicago hasn’t lost three games in a row since the season started, but the Blackhawks are in danger of doing so now. That speaks to how consistently good they’ve been, but it also highlights just how little adversity they’ve faced this year.

They’ve come from behind in games and won close contests, but they got ahead of the league so quickly that many of those impressive victories were achieved in low pressure situations. Still, that doesn’t mean they’ll buckle under the pressure.

“Just because we haven’t faced a whole lot of adversity this year doesn’t mean we’ve never faced it in our lives before,” Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith argued, according to Chicago Sun-Times writer Mark Lazerus. “Let’s face it: Winning in the playoffs isn’t easy. It’s not always going to go your way.”

Perhaps the biggest x-factor in this game is Chicago captain Jonathan Toews. He called Chicago’s 3-1 loss on Monday a slap in the face.

He hasn’t scored a goal in the playoffs and this is the kind of situation that the Blackhawks look to their captain to step up.

Los Angeles hosts San Jose (10:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN)
Series tied at 2-2

The Sharks and Kings had two of the NHL’s best home records in the regular season and neither team has lost a game in their arena during the 2013 playoffs. That’s good news for Los Angeles, even if they have squandered a 2-0 series lead.

If Sharks captain Joe Thornton manages to replicate his success in from Game 4 on Tuesday, then San Jose might break that trend and earn its third consecutive win tonight.

“That was vintage Joe Thornton right there,” Logan Couture told CSN Bay Area after the Sharks’ 2-1 win. “Unbelievable. Creating turnovers, making passes, skating like a young guy. He was flying, and I know me personally, it got me going. We need Joe to play like that for the rest of the playoffs.”

Whatever happens, it’s likely that this game will come down to the final minutes of action. The last three contests in this series have been determined by just one goal and even Game 1 was a close 2-0 affair.