Thoughts about the Oilers and Bruins

"It doesn't hurt, playing in the playoffs and having the success that we did," Ryan Smyth said after last night's 4-3 win over Detroit. "We had pretty good success this year against them (3-1-0), and we just wanted to carry some momentum."

The Oilers will have to carry alot of momentum soon. Suddenly they have won 2 in a row and are only 5 points behind 8th place Calgary in the West. This after losing 4 in a row, including 2 in the shootout during their Eastern Conference road trip. The Oilers will play Calgary only 2 more times in their last 20 games. However, they will play the Wild 5 more times in those remaining 20. The Oilers trail the 7th-place Wild by 7 points. That 5 game swing will be a major difference in their playoff fate. Currently the Oilers have won 2 and lost 1 to Minnesota this season.
They will have to play better in their last 20 than they did last season, where they won only 9 games to finish 8th in the West , 3 points ahead of Vancouver, who won 7 of their last 20 and 6 points ahead of the Kings, who won 8 of their last 20. Playing .500 hockey probably won't be good enough to get in this year, waiting for Calgary and Minnesota to flounder.
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Speaking of teams that are not quite down and out, the Boston Bruins, who claimed G Joey MacDonald off of waivers today and signed Marco Sturm to a 4-year deal, are no longer sellers at the trade deadline. A 6-2 win over the red hot Lightning last night not only put the Bruins 5 points behind 8th spot Carolina in the East, it also was a statement by them that they are going to make a push to get into the postseason rather than lay down and die. The Bruins are now 8-2-0 in their last 10 and have won 4 in a row. Even with Patrice Bergeron (lower body) and Glenn Murray (groin) out with injuries the Bruins keep winning.
-Sturm has 7 goals in his last 7 games.
-Marc Savard has 2 goals and 10 assists in his last 7 games.
-Brandon Bochenski has 6 goals and 5 assists in his first 9 games with Boston, making me winder waht the hell Chicago was thinking.... Bochenski seems to have found a home in Boston.
Never say never. 20 games is alot of time. The final stretch race has begun and is going to be thrilling to watch!