Termine » “The Alliance鈥檚 emphasis on building a dynam

BOSTON — The math is simple.

If the Bruins get two points — in any way — against the out-of-contention Florida Panthers at TD Garden on Sunday night Jeff Heath Jersey , Boston wins the Atlantic Division and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

While the Bruins were beating the Ottawa Senators 5-1 on Saturday night, the Lightning were surrendering a point to the Hurricanes in Carolina in their 82nd and final game.

So, even though Tampa took a one-point lead, the Bruins can take care of their own business in Sunday’s game, which is a makeup of a contest snowed out in January.

Win Sunday and the Bruins face the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the playoffs. Lose or tie and it’s the Toronto Maple Leafs in an Original Six matchup.

“Opportunity for us, hopefully we’re up to the task,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said after Saturday night’s 5-2 victory over Ottawa. “I’m sure the guys will be excited tomorrow.”

With the game meaningful, Cassidy said he will start Tuukka Rask in goal.

“We’re in a position to take it Joel Iyiegbuniwe Jersey , and that’s a credit to the guys,” Cassidy said. “We’ve worked hard to get here. This wasn’t by accident. We didn’t back in, I don’t think. Tampa, they beat us the other night in their building, and they deserved to win that game, and we thought, well it might be a little tougher, but here we are.”

The Bruins gave up the first goal Saturday night but then cruised past the Senators. They have allowed the first goal of the game in 43 of their 81 games and still are in position to win the Eastern Conference.

The Panthers Mike Ditka Jersey , who defeated Buffalo 4-3 on Saturday for their fourth straight win, are 17-5-2 in their last 24 games and 24-8-2 in their last 34. They were eliminated earlier Saturday when the Flyers defeated the New York Rangers in Philadelphia.

This will be the third game meeting in nine days — and the Panthers won the other two — with Rask in goal for both. Now, they have a chance to play the role of spoiler after flying in after their home game Saturday.

Saturday night’s win gave them a club-record 27th home victory.

“I think everybody in here is disappointed,” Vincent Trocheck said after game. “The whole goal this year was to make the playoffs. We made a good push for it in the second half. It’s just the first part of the season caught up to us.”

Added coach Bob Boughner: “I’m proud of these guys, of what they’ve done in the second half of the season and the resiliency they’ve shown. We set the franchise record for home wins. There’s a lot of good things. It’s tough to recognize that right now, but I want them to finish off hard.”

Despite the two recent losses, Rask is a whopping 21-4-1 with a 1.52 goals against average and .949 save percentage lifetime against the Panthers.

James Reimer was in goal for Florida Saturday night, which left the door open for Roberto Luongo to play in the finale. Luongo Dan Skuta Jersey , who played in his 1,000th game and defeated Boston on Thursday night, had a disastrous 2011 Stanley Cup final against the Bruins and now could have a chance for a second tiny bit of revenge Sunday.

The Panthers will again be without their best player, Aleksander Barkov, out for the weekend games with an upper-body injury suffered when checked by Boston’s Colby Cave, who has since been returned to the minors.

The Bruins are expected to have Rick Nash (upper body) back in the lineup Sunday.

The Alliance of American Football has announced the name of another head coach for its inaugural season in 2019.

Rick Neuheisel will coach the Phoenix entry in the league, which plans to launch in February 2019. Neuheisel’s involvement has been expected for some time, although initial reports indicated that he would be coaching a team based in Southern California.

Neuheisel will instead take over the Phoenix entry and he will coach home games at Sun Devil Stadium. Neuheisel is familiar with the stadium as he coached against Arizona State when he was the head coach at the University of Washington and when he coached UCLA.

“The Alliance鈥檚 emphasis on building a dynamic relationship between players Jamison Crowder Jersey , fans and the game is what immediately grabbed my attention. There is nothing like experiencing the thrill of victory and agony of defeat together. We all invest so much into the game, and that鈥檚 something I鈥檝e missed over the years away from the sidelines,鈥?Neuheisel said in a statement. 鈥淭he combination of a passionate fan base and motivated, talented players looking to make a name for themselves on the professional level will result in exciting football at Sun Devil Stadium in the spring, with the ultimate goal being to bring home the first ever Alliance Championship.”

Neuheisel also coached at the University of Colorado and spent time on the Ravens staff from 2005 to 2007. He joins Steve Spurrier, Brad Childress, Mike Singletary and Dennis Erickson as head coaches in the upstart league.

Adidas Nikita Kucherov Jersey