Just a few weeks ago, it felt as if the Bruins had a playoff spot locked up. This wasn't so much a compliment towards Boston as it was an indictment of the East's lack of depth. At the time, there were eight teams in the conference who looked worthy of postseason berths; the rest, conversely, looked like pretenders.
NHL schedule 2015: Bruins, Senators fight for playoff positioning
Boston and Ottawa have a lot to play for when they meet at Canadian Tire Centre.
Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
This has undoubtedly changed, mostly thanks to an unlikely hero in Canada's capital. Andrew Hammond, a goalie who struggled at the AHL level earlier in 2014-15, has emerged as one of the NHL's best goalies since his debut with the Senators, and owns a 11-0-1 record in 13 appearances. Incredible, to say the least.
Hammond’s efforts have pushed the Sens to just four points behind the Bruins with a game in hand. Tonight, they’ll meet in Ottawa in what will be a highly important contest.
Here’s a full list of Thursday’s games. All times are ET.
| Matchup | Time | Visitor TV | Home TV | National TV |
| San Jose at Toronto | 7:30 p.m. | CSN-CA | TVA | TSN4 |
| Carolina at Montreal | 7:30 p.m. | FS Carolina | SNE | RDS |
| Boston at Ottawa | 7:30 p.m. | NESN | RDS2, TSN5 | |
| Detroit at Florida | 7:30 p.m. | FS-D | FS-F | NHLN-US |
| Washington at Minnesota | 8 p.m. | CSN-DC | FS-N, FS-WI | |
| St. Louis at Winnipeg | 8 p.m. | FS-MW | TSN3 | |
| Pittsburgh at Dallas | 8:30 p.m. | ROOT | FS-SW | SN360 |
| Philadelphia at Calgary | 9 p.m. | CSN-PH | SNW | |
| Columbus at Vancouver | 10 p.m. | FS-O | SNP | |
| Colorado at Arizona | 10 p.m. | ALT2 | FS-A Plus | |
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