UPDATED NHL STANDINGS*

The Rangers crushed Toronto last night, which is good news/bad news for the Bruins. The good news is that the Leafs clinched the 2nd worst record in the NHL. The bad news is the Rangers are only 1 point behind the Bruins for 8th place, but the B's have an extra game to play.

Team - Game Remaining - Points
6. Montreal - 2 - 87 points
7. Philadelphia - 2 - 86 points
8. BOSTON - 3 - 85 points
---------------------------
9. NY Rangers - 2 - 84 points

If the Bruins win tonight in Buffalo, they'd be only 1 point shy of clinching a playoff berth. The Canadiens also play tonight in Carolina. The Rangers play again Friday night.

FROZEN FOUR PREVIEW*

The other March Madness kicks off it's finale tonight in Detroit, on a temporary rink built at Ford Field.

It's an eclectic bunch of teams: one massive Big Ten school, an small technical school that's D-III in every sport but hockey, a powerhouse Catholic school form Massachusetts, and a new powerhouse public school from Ohio. Two teams with National Championships in the past, two other teams who've never won a Division-I title in any sport.

5pm - ESPN2: Wisconsin vs. RIT
RIT was a pushover in their bracket, a 4 seed up against the likes of Cornell, UNH, and Denver. RIT is not supposed to be here. But Wisconsin is. The Badgers secured a 1 seed thanks to an impressive regular season. RIT has the heart, but no longer enjoys the home ice advantage they possessed in Albany. Then again, Detroit's not too far from Rochester. I'd love to see RIT get to the finals, but Wisconsin is simply too good, and will come into this game prepared after witnessing what RIT did to Denver and New Hampshire.

Wisconsin 5, RIT 2



8:30pm - ESPN2: Miami (OH) vs. Boston College
Miami had victory pried from their clutches last year in an utterly heartbreaking climax of the National Championship game. They're on a mission, and they're ridiculously stacked. Their backup goalie made 55 saves in their double OT win against Michigan. BC can score (19 goals in their last 3 games), but they can be scored on (14 goals against in their last 3 games). As much as I want to see BC's only clutch team advance to another Championship, I have to select Miami for their superior balance.

Miami 4, BC 3



And in a Wisconsin/Miami title game, I'd give the nod to Miami. But hopefully it'll be RIT/BC.

RUNS PREVENTED

The Sox' pitching in defense may prevent opponents from scoring, but get ready to enjoy offensive outings like last night's.

Hey David Ortiz got a single. Yippee. Hooray. And there was much rejoicing.

The Sox squandered plenty of early opportunities, as they've tended to do against Andy Pettitte for the last 10 years. The Sox were 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, Ortiz's RBI single providing the lone hit. If the middle of the lineup isn't crushing the ball, this team is sunk.

The Sox had 1 hit in 3 innings of Chan Ho Park relief. Nuf said.

Then there was the bullpen. Scott Schoenweis and Daniel Bard combined to allow the Yankees' tying run. And Papelbon couldn't weasel his way out of the 10th unscathed. I have some serious doubts about Papelbon this year.

At least Lackey looked strong until he approached 100 pitches. I suspect that will change as he's stretched out.

Red Sox @ Royals Friday night, Tim Wakefield against Kyle Davies, who went 8-9 last season.

Source:
ESPN

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

BIG WHINY PAPI

When asked about his 0 for 7 start of the 2009 season, David Ortiz threw a hissy fit:

"(Expletive) happens. Then you guys talk (expletive). Two (expletive) games already. (Expletive) are going crazy. What’s up with that, man? (Expletive). There’s (expletive) 160 games left. Y’all (expletive) go ahead and hit for me."

The guy hit .238 last year, despite his 28 homeruns. He can't play the field and is paid $13 million to hit. Which he hasn't done this season, and barely did last season.

Screw David Ortiz. Get paid millions of dollars, get worshiped by millions of fans, get caught cheating, get away with it, then get pissed when reporters interrogate you about sucking. Now go get some Midol, Papi.

And even now, he'll be coddled by the fan base and most reporters. In John Tomase's Ortiz column, he refers to Papi as "embattled." Everyone seems worried that Ortiz is putting himself under stress to excel, as if his hitting struggles are just mental.

To be blunt, maybe he just sucks when he's not cheating. His bat seems slow and erratic, almost out of control, as if he lacked the strength to quickly punch it through the zone, precisely striking the ball with the sweet spot.

SEIDENBERG OUT 8 WEEKS

Dennis Seidenberg, who had been averaging 23 minutes of ice time with the Bruins, needed surgery to repair torn ligaments in his wrist. He'll be out for 8 weeks, which means he'll miss the opening round of the playoffs. If the Bruins are fortunate enough to advance beyond that, they'll still have to wait several weeks for Seidenberg.

Mark Stuart also had surgery over the weekend, but will only miss 2 weeks.

Zdeno Chara broke his nose in Saturday's overtime loss, but won't miss any time. Hockey.

Source:
ESPN

SCOREBOARD WATCHING

It was a good night for the Bruins, and they didn't even have to play. That's probably what made it so good. The Sabres throttled the Rangers 5-2, the Thrashers lost (eliminating them from the playoffs), and the Canadiens lost in overtime. Here's what the standings look like:

Team - Games Remaining - Points
6. Montreal - 2 - 87 points
7. Philadelphia - 2 - 86 points
8. BOSTON - 3 - 85 points
-------------------------
9. NY Rangers - 3 - 82 points

The Rangers host the Maple Leafs tonight, and I think everyone in Boston is hoping Phil Kessel scores 4 or 5 goals. If the Rangers lose in regulation, the Bruins can clinch a playoff spot with just 1 point on Thursday.

BACK TO REALITY

Apart from Victor Martinez's heroics, not much went right for the Sox last night. All off-season, we've heard the mantra of "run prevention" from the Red Sox Front Office. And quite simply, the Sox failed to prevent runs last night.

It started with Lester, who had unbelievably strong then unbelievably weak innings. I'm not going to worry too much about him, though. He had a forgettable start to his '09 season (4-5, 5.65 ERA in April and May).

But it continued, with Okajima, Atchison, and Scutaro.

As important as the Sox' Front Office has publicly declared "run prevention" to be, they seem to have forgotten that a deep bullpen can prevent many more runs than a fleet-footed center-fielder, or a Gold Glove 3rd baseman. Red Sox Nation, prepare yourselves for many more games blown by middle relievers.

And when the Sox signed Scutaro, for some reason everyone in Boston thought he was a Gold Glove winner or something. He's a decent defensive short-stop, but he's no Alex Gonzalez or Pokey Reese. He's not even Rey Sanchez.

I know it's early, but how long should the Sox stick with Ortiz? I think it's unwise to hit him 5th in the order, and at the very least he should be moved down a few spots. He was 0 for 4 last night, 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position. As a team, the Sox went 1 for 12 with RISP.

Rubber game tonight, Andy Pettitte vs. John Lackey.

Source:
ESPN

Photo Credit:
Elsa/Getty Images

SCOREBOARD WATCHING

The Bruins aren't playing tonight, but there four important games for them tonight. All of them are at 7. Rangers @ Sabres, Canadiens @ Islanders, Flyers @ Maple Leafs, Devils @ Thrashers.

In theory, the Bruins could still be in 7th and in a great position to make the playoffs. They'd only need 3 points to clinch a postseason berth. But that's only if the Rangers lose in regulation.

Also in theory, the Bruins could fall to 8th, and have only a 1 point cushion over those same Rangers.

The Rangers also play Wednesday night, so it's possible that the Bruins could fall to 9th before they play again on Thursday night. But they'd also have a game in hand.

So, yeah, this will be a stressful week for the Bruins and their fans.