Tuukka Rask gets his league leading fifth shutout of the season stopping all 30 of the Lightning’s shots as the Bruins pick up their 61st point of the season in their 2-0 win. (more)

The Bruins have obtained points in every game this season besides their two losses against Buffalo. They’re tied for 4th place in the Eastern Conference and just two points back of conference leading Montreal after Thursday’s game in Tampa Bay. (more)

In the 61st installment of one of college hockey’s greatest traditions, Boston University, Boston College, Harvard, and Northeastern will square off in the Beanpot Tournament. BU and Northeastern play in the early game (5pm) with BC and Harvard set to take the ice at (more)

The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning are set to face off once more this Friday to determine the Eastern Conference champions with the series currently tied at 3-3. (more)

After handling the Philadelphia Flyers  in a 4-0 series sweep, the Boston Bruins will next face-off against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference finals. The Lightning dominated in their Semifinal matchup as well, edging the 1st place Washington Capitals in each of their four contests. Games 1 and 2 will take place in Boston starting Saturday, May 14th. Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron has been inactive since suffering a concussion in the third period of Game 4 last Friday. “He’s doing better,” said Boston coach Claude Julien. “He’s here and he’s doing better. He’s dealing with the concussion symptoms and the protocol. He’s here today because he’s feeling better. If anything, we’re getting some positive feedback from him.” View the full Bruins vs. Lightning Playoff Schedule: Game 1: Saturday, May 14 at Boston, 8 PM Game 2: Tuesday, May 17 at Boston, 8 PM Game 3: Thursday, May 19 at Tampa Bay, 8:00 PM Game 4: Saturday, May 21 at Tampa Bay, 1:30 PM *Game 5: Monday, May 23 at Boston, 8 PM *Game 6: Wednesday, May 25 at Tampa Bay, 8 PM *Game 7: Friday, May 27 at Boston, 8 PM

The New York Rangers scored four goals in the second period to coast past the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 yesterday at Madison Square Garden. The lightning started out strong in the first with a pair of scores before the Rangers really found their rhythm. Erik Christensen was able to produce back to back goals after assisting Vaclav Prospal before the start of the third. Chris Drury knocked in the final dagger in the last minute on empty net to end the contest up three. “We try to get off to good starts every day, every game,” said Drury. “Some nights we can turn it on and win, but we are not consistent. Starts are crucial and we should be looking, when we get back, to improve on our starts.” NHL players have some days to rest as others compete for their respective countries in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. The Lightning will return to host the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, March 2nd as the Rangers travel to Ottawa to match up with the Senators.

The Boston Bruins scored four goals in the first period and harnessed the Tampa Bay Lightning just enough through the remaining time in regulation, leaving the ice with a 5-4 victory Thursday night. The B’s have finally found their stride following a dismal ten game skid. They are now hoping to notch their fourth win in a row tomorrow night against the Florida Panthers. “Two points are so valuable right now,” said coach Claude Julien. “We’ve lost some games that we should have won, and this one here I think we deserved to win. But we certainly did everything to shoot ourselves in the foot and make it exciting. We need to learn to control our games a lot better.” Miroslav Satan found the net to start things off 4:24 into the first period. Milan Lucic later contributed with a goal before Michael Ryder took over for two scores of his own to conclude the second. Lucic came through again soon after to give Boston the all too casual 5-0 lead. The Lightning then surged to pull within one. Two third period goals were supplied by Steve Downie to make it close, but by then their momentum had run out. “We showed character, but playing half the game is not going to be good enough, especially against teams like Boston that are fighting, too, to get in,” said Martin St Louis. “That first period was pretty embarrassing, but we fought back and I’m proud of that.”

24 hours after signing a seven-year contract extension with the Bruins organization, Marc Savard netted his 200th career goal as Boston easily handled the 10-8-8 Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1. It was a load off my mind, to tell the truth,” said Savard. “I’d been thinking about it for a while, especially during the time off. That’s when we really pressed to get it done. I know this is probably my last one. I wanted to stay in one city, so it’s good to be able to do it here.” Patrice Bergeron found the net following Savard’s contributions with five minutes left in the first period to give Boston the 2-0 advantage. Marco Strum went to work in the second with two goals less than four minutes apart. Jeff Halpern helped Tampa Bay avoid the shutout with a score 1:27 into the third period. The Bruins have now earned a point in 12 of their last 13 contests while sitting on top of the Northeast division with a record of 14-8-5. “The expectation was so high. Us getting off to a slow start kind of threw everybody for a loop – fans, media,” said Bruins head coach Claude Julien. “I think we’re finding our game slowly.” The B’s will next face off against the Montreal Canadiens on Friday, December 4th. Boston Bruins tickets can be found right here with us at Ace!

The NHL opened its 2008-2009 season in Prague, Czech Republic on Saturday with the New York Rangers playing the Tampa Bay Lightning. The two teams will also play on Sunday 10/5. The opening game went to the New York Rangers 2-1 on Saturday. The Rangers got goals from Markus Naslund and Brandon Dubinsky. This season marks the second year in a row that the NHL has opened in Europe. This years games in the Czech Republic were expected to have extra appeal with Jaromir Jagr as a member of the New York Rangers. However Jagr was not signed by the Rangers or any NHL team this year and instead opted to sign in Russia. After Sunday’s second game in Prague against the Lightning, the Rangers will get a few days off before returning to Madison Square Garden on Friday to hose the Chicago Blackhawks. New York Rangers Tickets NHL Hockey Tickets

Forget about summer, it’s free-agent signing season in the NHL. Over the past few days, rumors have been flying around about what market will land the big names out there like Jaromir Jagr and Mats Sundin. Sundin was reportedly offered a 2-year, $20 million dollar contract from the Vancouver Canucks, a deal that would make him the leagues highest paid player. “We put a major offer together to try and attract the player we felt was the best center iceman on the market,” said Canucks GM Mark Gillis. “It’s an indication we are prepared to do what it takes to attract the best players here.” The big signing of today was by far the Detroit Red Wings landing Marian Hossa to a one-year deal worth reportedly $7.45 million dollars. The high-scoring wingman was one of the top players who propelled the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup finals, which they lost to Detroit in six games. Hossa is 29 years old. The Chicago Blackhawks made two big signings landing probably the top defensemen on the market in Brian Campbell as well as goalie Cristobal Huet. Campbell signed an eight-year $57.12 million dollar deal and Huet inked a four-year contract worth $22.5 million. The two other big defensemen to reach deals Tuesday were Michal Rozsival and Wade Redden, who both signed with the New York Rangers. Rozsival re-signed with the Rangers for a four-year contract worth $20 million while Redden signs a six-year, $39 million dollar deal after skating with Ottawa last season. Defensemen Jeff Finger, formerly of the Colorado Avalanche, signed a four-year $14 million dollar deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Dallas landed forward Sean Avery to a four-year, $15.5 million dollar deal. “We are excited about the opportunity to add a player like Sean Avery to our group,” Stars co-general manager Brett Hull said. “His ability to play the game with skill and tenacity makes us a better team and is a great complement to the players we have here.” The Washington Capitals will say goodbye to longtime goalie Olie Kolzig after he signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning after spending 16 seasons in Washington. The New Jersey Devils got their hands in the mix of the free agent pool by signing Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik to contracts. Rolston agreed to a four-year, $20 million dollar deal while Holik signed a one-year contract worth $2.5 million dollars. The New York Islanders made a little noise by singing Montreal’s former defensemen Mark Streit to a five-year $20.5 million dollar contract while the Boston Bruins also signed a former Canadien in Michael Ryder to a multi-year deal. With the NHL salary cap rising up this season, teams have not been shy about dishing out the money to lure top free-agents to their squads. Over the next two weeks, look for almost every free agent out there to receive offers from teams trying to help the players find a new place they can call home.