This is what being the top team in the Eastern Conference is all about.

Every team below the Boston Bruins in the standings is going to use their match-ups with the Bruins as a measuring stick. So far during their current stretch of games against playoff-caliber teams, the Bruins have been up to the task with a 3-0-1 record. But now they take on the Philadelphia Flyers for the first time this season.

Like the Capitals, Devils, Rangers and Canadiens before them, the Flyers will not only be gunning for two points but to see how they stack up against the team that owns the highest perch in the East. The Flyers, remember, advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference finals last spring. Were it not for a sluggish start to this season (0-3-3), the Flyers might already be neck and neck with the Bruins. As it is, Philadelphia is third in the Atlantic Division and sixth in the East (two points out of fifth and three out of fourth).

There’s sure to be some bad blood left over from last year’s Bruins-Flyers tilts, which included injury-causing hits for the Flyers and plenty of extracurricular activities by both clubs.

Season series: This is the first meeting of the year between the Bruins and the Flyers. Last season, Boston compiled a 3-1-0 record against Philadelphia. (more…)

Richards

Despite an 0-for-12 slump over their last three games, the Boston Bruins are still able to pride themselves on a power play that’s been near the top of the NHL all season. The Bruins’ man-advantage currently ranks third at 23.9 percent.

On the defensive side of the puck, the Bruins’ power play has also been solid — allowing just four shorthanded goals all season long. But Wednesday night in Philadelphia the Bruins’ man-advantage will face its toughest task of the season, as it’ll have to tangle with a Flyers club that’s potted an NHL-high 13 shorthanded goals this season, led by Mike Richards, Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter each tallying four on the season (and tied for the individual league lead).

The Flyers, who also rank seventh on the season with a penalty-kill percentage of 83.1, are far and away the most productive shorthanded team in the league, as the New York Islanders are the next closest with nine goals while down a man.

So the Bruins’ power-play performers are going to have to be on their toes in their first meeting of the season with Philly. (more…)

Wheeler

Just a couple weeks ago, I was ready to annoint David Krejci’s line — completed by Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler — as the Boston Bruins’ No. 1. But as of right now, that trio can’t claim that status, and not just because Phil Kessel and Milan Lucic have gotten healthy and rejoined Marc Savard.

The numbers right now for what’s generously called the Bruins’ second line are a bit ugly. The rookie Wheeler has popped in just one goal in the club’s last 13 games. Krejci has just one goal (scored on the power play off a defenseman’s leg) in the last eight games. And Ryder, who missed one game with the flu, has just one goal in the last seven outings.

Wheeler, for one, isn’t worried.

“Last week, how many posts did I hit? I hit three last week. It’s just, you know? Sometimes the puck doesn’t go in the net,” the left winger explained after practice today at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington, Mass. “Maybe earlier in the season all three of those would’ve gone in. You never know. I gauge myself based on the scoring chances you get. As long as you’re getting chances, what else can you really do?” (more…)

WILMINGTON, Mass. — His first full practice with the Boston Bruins for a couple weeks in his rearview mirror, goaltender Manny Fernandez fiddled with his equipment a bit this afternoon at Ristuccia Arena and explained that he made it through unscathed.

“As far as playing goes, yeah, everything’s good. So you keep moving forward and we’ll see from there,” said Fernandez, who was scheduled to join the club on its road trip to Philadelphia and Ottawa for games Wednesday and Thursday.

Fernandez did not dress for the Bruins’ last four games, but he hit the ice for a casual practice Monday and then went through all the drills today. With Tuukka Rask sent back to Providence  (AHL), Fernandez will at least serve as the back-up against the Flyers and Senators. Head coach Claude Julien said he had not come up with a plan for getting Fernandez into a game and he still needed to consult with his goaltender before doing so.

Bergeron

WILMINGTON, Mass. — It’s only natural to look at the Boston Bruins’ schedule, see that they’re going to play Philadelphia for the first time this season tomorrow night and realize that it will also be center Patrice Bergeron’s first game against the Flyers since he suffered a Grade 3 concussion as a result of a hit from behind by Philly blueliner Randy Jones in Oct. 2007.

Bergeron, of course, missed the remainder of the season. And the Bruins, despite some more questionable physical play by the Flyers throughout the season series, won three of four games against Philly.

One day before he’ll be taking the Wachovia Center ice, Bergeron didn”t want to buy into the hype of his first match-up against the team and player that knocked him out of commission.

“It’s another game,” Bergeron said after practice today at Ristuccia Arena. “I think you guys make it a bigger deal than it is for me. I’m just going out there and playing my game.”

A lot has happened since the Jones hit on Bergeron. The Bruins made the playoffs last spring and emerged as the Eastern Conference’s best team this season. Philly advanced to the Eastern Conference finals last spring and, after a  slow start to this season, has climbed into the Atlantic Divison race. And Jones has started to hit his stride after starting the season on injured reserve (although he missed the Flyers’ last game with the flu). (more…)

Hunwick

WILMINGTON, Mass. — Rookie defenseman Matt Hunwick had been scheduled to skate today at Ristuccia Arena with Boston Bruins teammates Petteri Nokelainen and Manny Fernandez, but the blueliner instead remained sidelined with flu-like symptoms.

Hunwick did not play Saturday against New York, nor did he travel to Montreal for Sunday’s game. The Bruins are scheduled to have a full-squad practice tomorrow and Hunwick could be back.

Should Hunwick be ready to play by Wednesday night, the Bruins will again have a tough decision. Last Thursday, Shane Hnidy was a healthy scratch when the Bruins opted to not dress seven defenseman as they had in the previous game.

Fernandez

WILMINGTON, Mass. — It was just one two-man, two-coach on-ice workout, but it was enough to tell Boston Bruins goaltender Manny Fernandez that he’s almost out of the woods in terms of recovering from some back problems.

“I’m ready to go,” Fernandez declared after he and forward Petteri Nokelainen practiced with assistant coach Doug Houda and strength and conditioning coach John Whitesides at Ristuccia Arena this morning.  “I felt like I was ready to go a few days ago, but I think the main goal is to get my back as strong as possible before getting it out on the ice. So I think we’ve accomplished that over a week. I did a whole lot of exercises that are going to keep going for the rest of the season, but at least, to get a core a little stronger than I was.

“You weaken over a season,” he continued. “You play more games, your body kind of goes up and down – you have more strength, less strength depending on how many games you play.” (more…)

WILMINGTON, Mass.  — No, it’s not quite as fun as “Tom & Jerry” but Boston Bruins goaltender Manny Fernandez and forward Petteri Nokelainen are both on the Ristuccia Arena ice for an intimate workout.

The two recovering injured players are taking and facing shots under the tutelage of assistant coach Doug Houda and the watchful eye of  strength and conditioning coach John Whitesides.

While Fernandez, who’s been out for a couple weeks with “general soreness,”  hasn’t even finished his first lengthy on-ice workout, the Bruins already announced that goaltender Tuukka Rask has been assigned to Providence (AHL). That means Fernandez will be ready to at least serve as the back-up Wednesday in Philadelphia.

I’ll have more on Nokelainen and Fernandez later today.

Savard

There’s no way to avoid it now. Boston Bruins center Marc Savard is a legit Hart Trophy candidate, and there’s nothing anyone in the NHL establishment can do about it.

Some still doubt Savard’s all-around ability as much as they doubt Tim Thomas’ puck-stopping prowess, but here in Boston we know Savard is the straw that stirs the Bruins’ drink. In four games this week, he posted 4-1-5 totals and an even plus/minus rating to earn my Bruin of the Week award.

Although he was a minus-2 against Washington in a game that both his usual linemates — Milan Lucic and Phil Kessel — finally formed a trio with him for the first time in a while due to injury and illness, Savard still came up with the game-tying power-play goal. His heroics continued with the game-tying goal in the overtime loss to New Jersey and then the game-winning goal (the only goal) against the New York Rangers.

Savard now sits in a fourth-place tie in the NHL scoring race with 61 points, in fifth place in assists with 41 and is an amazing plus-28.

The only other candidate this week was defenseman Dennis Wideman, who posted 2-2-4 totals and a plus-4 rating — including the game-tying goal in Montreal and assists on the game-winning goals against Washington and the Rangers.

Thornton

The Boston Bruins continued their new-found dominance of the Montreal Canadiens with a 3-1 win at Bell Centre today. The Bruins are now 4-0-1 against the Canadiens this season, including 2-0-1 on the road.

You can read the complete recap at Yahoo!

Winger Shawn Thornton not only scored his career-high fifth goal of the season, but his goal was the game-winner — his second such goal of the season.

Also:

•The Bruins were called for too many men on the ice for just the second time this season.

•Blake Wheeler’s delay-of-game penalty shooting the puck over the glass was just the fourth of the year against the Bruins.

•P.J. Axelsson led the team with five hits. Read that sentence again. Now stop shaking your head.

•Marc Savard’s empty-net goal extended his point-scoring streak to eight games.

Julien

His team has now won games by scores of 7-4 and 8-5, and also earned two points in 1-0 games (three times including yesterday’s win over the New York Rangers). So Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien isn’t worried about his club hanging in there with all types of teams and playing all types of styles.

“I think that’s the thing that we like about our team this year is that we’ve been faced with different types of games, different types of challenges and we’ve adapted well to all of those,” Julien said after the win over the Rangers. “Whether it’s been over overly physical, whether it’s been tight-checking, teams that try to really open up … I mean, so far I think we’ve done a really good job …”

There’s no telling how the Bruins’ game with Montreal will go. But check back after the game for my coverage. And also check out my live blog during the game at NESN.com.

Hopefully, Boston Bruins All-Stars Marc Savard, Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara won’t make a wrong turn when they get to the Bell Centre in Montreal today.

One week ago, those three were at the home of and dressed in the locker room belonging to the hated Montreal Canadiens for hockey’s ultimate exhibition — the NHL All-Star Game. Today they’re in that same building for a grudge match, which could end with the Bruins leaving town with an 18-point lead in the Northeast Division standings (with a regulation win over the Habs).

All three All-Stars will play a prominent role in this one. Of late, Savard’s picked up his goal production and he needs to stay aggressive. Chara will need to be at his shutdown best against Montreal star sniper Alexei Kovalev. And Thomas, fresh off a rare game off, should be sharp and fresh enough to thwart the high-powered Habs. This season, Thomas is 10-2-3 in games after he dressed as a back-up the previous contest.

Season series: This is the fifth of six meetings on the year between Boston and Montreal. The Bruins are 3-0-1 against the Habs, including 1-0-1 at Bell Centre. But Montreal has won eight of the last nine regular-season meetings on its home ice. (more…)

Thomas

BOSTON — It takes Boston Bruins netminder Tim Thomas a little time to take the temperature of his goaltending-tandem partner to know when to back off and when to say something in order to get his fellow puck-stopper psyched or focused.

Thomas has known rookie Tuukka Rask since two summer ago when both were part of a camp with goaltending coach Bob Essensa. So Thomas is already able to get a vibe from the youngster filling in for Thomas’ usual partner in puck-stopping Manny Fernandez. That’s why the veteran stood back and let Rask do his own thing today leading up to and during a 1-0 shutout of the New York  Rangers at TD Banknorth Garden.

“I actually stayed away from him; he seemed to be in the right state of mind and I didn’t want to get him to start thinking,” Thomas said after the game. “He didn’t seem to be over-thinking or overexcited or nervous. He seemed to be in the right place.

“You don’t want to overexcite him either. You don’t want him thinking this is the biggest game in the history of hockey because truthfully it’s not and you’ve just got to go out and approach it like any other game.”

While he never wants to miss a start, Thomas needed a night off after starting eight straight Bruins games plus playing a period and overtime of the All-Star Game. And he enjoyed watching the future of the Bruins’ goaltending situation perform in front of his eyes.

“It’s interesting to watch young kids play because I try to put myself in their shoes when I was their age,” Thomas said. “Although I didn’t develop as late as everybody seems to talk about, I don’t think I would’ve been able to play at this level at age 21.”

Fernandez

BOSTON — While Boston Bruins rookie goaltender Tuukka Rask was great in his NHL season debut today in a 1-o win over the New York Rangers at TD Banknorth Garden, it would seem his stint at the game’s highest level could be short-lived.

After the game, Bruins head coach Claude Julien elaborated on the situation with ailing netminder Manny Fernandez and sounded optimistic that his two-headed goaltending monster of Fernandez and Tim Thomas would be unleashed again soon.

“Manny’s very close. He skated today. I guess the prediction here is that he should be on the ice with us Monday with the whole team and ready to go,” Julien said. ‘Things are really looking up and he’s feeling extremely good. He felt great today.

“And as I mentioned, there were two reasons behind our process here. It was to give Manny an opportunity to come back at 100 percent because he’s been that good for us when he is 100 percent. And at the same time, it was an opportunity to see Tuukka come up here and practice with the team and get himself a game.”

So barring any setbacks, Rask should be ticketed back to Providence (AHL) once the team returns from Montreal, where it plays a matinee Sunday.

Savard

BOSTON — Although he still would have liked to have stopped it, New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist admitted after today’s Boston Bruins 1-0 win that Marc Savard’s goal with 22.2 seconds left in the second period was legal.

“I saw him come in front of me. It was such a tough goal. You have to reach for the puck and it deflected straight down. It is hard to be in two places at the same time,” the Rangers’ All-Star netminder said in the visiting dressing room at TD Banknorth Garden.  “I thought that it was a high stick, but then I saw the replay and it didn’t look that high. It was a pretty good tip. It is just tough when you let one in that late.”

The play unfolded with Milan Lucic barrelling toward Nigel Dawes along the half-wall and forcing a turnover. Dennis Wideman ripped a shot from the point and Savard got a stick on it from the slot. Savard said he was pretty sure the puck was low enough for him to interfere with it and not get a whistle.

“Obviously, you want to get a tip on it. And I knew that it wasn’t that high at the time and I got a good tip on it,” he explained. “I knew it was late in the period too. It was a great shot by Dennis. Looch made the whole play, though, forcing the guy on the wall. And obviously when a big guy comes at you, it’s tough to make a good play and he kind of let it go by and Dennis got a good shot.”