2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals Meet In The First Round

After battling for six months, the NHL has seen its best 16 teams advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Last year, the Boston Bruins came in as the third seed and faced the Montreal Canadiens. As we all know, the Bruins won in seven games and eventually went all the way.

This time around, Boston is second-seeded and playing a very hot Washington Capitals team.

For a complete look at the Bruins first-round schedule, click here.

Washington had to scratch and claw its way in after dealing with major injuries to stars such as Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom. The injury woes have continued into the playoffs however. Braden Holtby is the third-string goaltender but may start the postseason with both Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth on the shelf.

Outside of Nathan Horton, who is most likely out for the season, the Bruins come in ready to go. With the Northeast Division locked up for the past week, head coach Claude Julien has been able to set his team up nicely with rest for Tim Thomas along the way.

The defending Stanley Cup champs get underway Thursday night at TD Garden.

For more on the Bruins and the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, be sure to check our our blog Stanley Cup Of Chowder. Also take a look at our StoryStream and SB Nation Boston for all the latest news and updates.

2012 NHL Playoffs Schedule: Bruins Face Capitals And The Rest Of The Eastern Conference Bracket

Sunday's 4-3 shootout victory over the Buffalo Sabres, was a great way for the Boston Bruins to close out regular-season play. Now, the defending Stanley Cup champions will focus on one thing, the playoffs and its next round opponent -- the Washington Capitals.

Over the course of the season, the Bruins didn't have favorable results against the Alex Ovechkin-led Capitals, who won three of four games in the season series. Luckily, Ovechkin will enter the postseason coming off one of his worst regular-season performances in his career (38 goals, 27 assists, 65 points).

Here's a look at the TV schedule for this anticipated playoff match-up:

Here's what the rest of the Eastern Conference looks like

No. 1 New York Rangers vs. No.8 Ottawa Senators: The Senators won the seasons series 3-1
No. 3 Florida Panthers vs. No. 6 New Jersey Devils: The regular-season series was split 2-2.
No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 5 Philadelphia Flyers: This inter-state rivalry featured Flyers winning the season series 4-2

Here's what the Western Conference looks like:

NHL Standings 2012: Bruins To Face Washington In Opening Round Of Playoffs

The Bruins are ready to defend their Stanley Cup title, and now they know who they'll face in the first round of the NHL playoffs: the Washington Capitals.

The Bruins were locked into the second seed heading into Saturday, but both Ottawa and Washington remained in play as potential opening round opponents. By virtue of Florida's win over Carolina (which sealed the Southeast Division title and third seed for the Panthers), Washington's win over New York (giving them 92 points) and Ottawa's loss to New Jersey (they also had 92 points, but less wins than Washington), the Bruins will take on the Capitals in a series set to start sometime next week.

The Bruins lost three of four matchups against Washington during the regular season, including a recent 3-2 shootout defeat on March 29, but should remain confident as hockey's second season begins. They proved last year that what matters most come playoff time isn't what happened in the past, but what a team is capable of when it matters most.

For more Boston Bruins coverage, visit our team page and blog, Stanley Cup Of Chowder.

Bruins Vs. Sabres Final Score: Seguin Scores Twice, B's Come Out With 4-3 Shootout Win

Things looked bleak for the Boston Bruins midway through the third period, after they once again found themselves down two goals with little more than half of a period to go.

But they had read that story before.

Though it took more time than regulation had to offer, the B's finished the game with two points, and a strong message to both Buffalo and the rest of the NHL.

They are ready for the playoffs.

After they came back to tie the game in the third period, they went on to play overtime and then, ultimately a shootout.

Tim Thomas put on his best again, stopping all three of Buffalo's shot in the event, including shots from Tyler Ennis, Brad Boyes and Jason Pominville.

And offensively the B's had their faithful match the enthusiasm on the scoring end. Patrice Begeron has a knack for shootouts and put one past Jhonas Enroth to earn two points in the last regular season game of the year.

However, that's far from where it started.

Tyler Seguin started the scoring, netting his 28th of the year 3:15 into the second period taking a perfect pass from Patrice Bergeron and tapping it past Enroth. Seguin went on to score again in the third period to cut the Sabres lead to one, and ensure his spot as top scorer on the team this year. Perhaps more impressively, Seguin is the youngest player ever on the Bruins to lead the team in scoring.

"Yeah, it’s pretty amazing. It’s definitely an honor, I did not know that," Seguin said. "Obviously again, like I was saying before my linemates make the game a lot easier for me. Marshy [Marchand] and Bergy [Bergeron] with how much chemistry they had all ready from last year, going all the way with the same line to the Stanley Cup Championship, they had a lot of chemistry. It was nice to step on that line and hopefully we’re going to get better."

After Seguin's first goal, the Sabres came back and scored three times before the Bruins were able to answer. Brad Boyes had two goals on the night and Jason Pominville added one for good measure. But, as the Bruins have done so often this season, they rallied in the third, and did so convincingly.

However, when the Bruins fought to within one, Brad Marchand didn't want to be outdone and less than two and a half minutes later, he netted his own, his 28th goal, and tied the game with 7:39 left to go in regulation.

"Well, going into that third period, we really said we have to have a good third period tonight if we want to have a good third period in the playoffs," Seguin said. "It’s just that sense of urgency, that passion, that commitment we want to have even in a game like today in the third period just to show that we can do it in the playoffs as well. We got the win tonight, our last game at home it was special."

The Bruins didn't allow a single shot through to Thomas in overtime, but picked up five of their own against Enroth. Finally, when it came down to the shootout, they won. They improved to 9-3 when a game is decided by a shootout.

Even with the win, the Bruins still don't know who they will play in the first round of playoffs yet, though it's between either the Ottawa Senators or the Washington Capitals.

But many of the players, Seguin included, are less worried about who they are playing, and more concentrated on what they need to accomplish.

"We’re a confident group in here – we know if we’re going out there only worrying about what our personal jobs are, not the guy next to us, as a team we’re going to do a good job," Seguin said. "If you’re worried about going in who you’re playing, or who’s ahead of you in the standings during the season, it’s not how you win games in the playoffs."

For more Boston Bruins coverage, visit our team page and blog, Stanley Cup Of Chowder.

Bruins Vs. Sabres Score Update: Bergeron Puts B's Over Buffalo In 4-3 Shootout Win

Patrice Bergeron had the only goal in the shootout, after the Bruins forced overtime to win 4-3, scoring twice in the third period to tie the game in the final regular season game Saturday afternoon.

He picked up the first Star of the Game as well, assisting on both of the goals that tied the game late in the third period. While he had two assists, Tyler Seguin picked up two goals in the game and finished the regular season as the leading scorer for his team with 29 goals.

Sitting close behind him was Brad Marchand who also nabbed a goal to put him at 28 goals and just one behind Seguin. He noted that he "let Seguin have it" at the end of the game.

Tim Thomas played another stellar game, stopping all three shots in the shootout and stopping 25-of-28 shots in regulation. He earned the regular season "First Star of the Game" Award before the game started.

The Bruins now await their opponent heading into the first round of playoffs. It will either be the Ottawa Senators (who lost to the Devils tonight) or the Washington Capitals.

For more Boston Bruins coverage, visit our team page and blog, Stanley Cup Of Chowder.

Bruins Vs. Sabres Score Update: Seguin, Boyes Make It 1-1 After Two Periods

Bruins forward Tyler Seguin opened up the scoring, netting his 28th goal of the season just 3:15 into the second frame. He took a fancy pass from linemate Patrice Bergeron through the slot and he tapped it in past Jhonas Enroth to give the B's a 1-0 lead.

That lasted for half of the period, until the Sabres came back and wristed a rebound over Tim Thomas, courtesy of Brad Boyes, for his seventh goal of the year.

Thomas has made 16 stops through two periods, while Enroth has picked up 22 saves in his effort tonight.

Boston didn't let up until the very last second in the period though, and, even though they were on the penalty kill, forward Rich Peverley nearly picked up a shorthanded goal, finding himself on a breakaway and a lot of speed. Enroth eventually stopped him, but it was a positive way for the B's to head into the locker room.

Zdeno Chara was the reason for the shorthanded play, getting called for tripping with less than two minutes to go in the second. The Sabres will start the third with the extra man for 1:17.

For more Boston Bruins coverage, visit our team page and blog, Stanley Cup Of Chowder.

Bruins Vs. Sabres Score Update: B's Have Chances, But Game Tied 0-0 After First Period

Sabres' netminder Jhonas Enroth gave up some juicy rebounds in the first period, but the Bruins were unable to capitalize on them, though they were able to put up 12 shots.

But they also didn't keep the Sabres away from their own goal in the meantime.

Buffalo managed to put up 12 shots of their own through to Tim Thomas, who stopped all of them.

Milan Lucic leads Boston with three shots on goal so far in this game, including one with the extra-man advantage.

But the biggest shot of the period came 12:38 into the period, when Shawn Thornton and Robyn Regehr went toe-to-toe and dropped the gloves. Thornton sparked a huge reaction from the crowd.

Thomas looked good in net, even sporting new Warrior pads for the night. While he normally wears his all white pads and glove, he turned them in tonight for new Black and White ones. And they haven't slowed him down yet.

For more Boston Bruins coverage, visit our team page and blog, Stanley Cup Of Chowder.

Bruins Vs. Sabres: B's Take On Buffalo At Home In Last Regular Season Game

The B's have just one more game to get through before the long push for the playoffs, and it seems almost fitting that they would be playing against the Buffalo Sabres.