On March 1, the Boston Bruins departed from TD Garden fresh from a heartbreaking 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals. Since returning from the three-week Winter Olympics hiatus on Feb. 26, the Bruins had failed to win a game and were struggling.

Three weeks and a 12-game winning streak later, the Bruins look like an entirely different squad. Boston reeled off three straight road victories against the New Jersey Devils, Colorado Avalanche and Phoenix Coyotes, before finally falling to the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in a shootout last night to improve to 49-17 on the season with 103 points, a mark that places them at the top of the Eastern Conference and 17 points ahead of the next closest Atlantic Division opponent.

The Bruins' 12-game winning streak allowed the team to clinch a playoff spot, the first team in either conference of the NHL to do so.

"We still have to play our hockey and really focus on the little details going into the playoffs," said Bruins captain and defenseman Zdeno Chara. "Not being satisfied or complacent and keep pushing our team."

Meanwhile, the status of the Bruins' winning streak stood in grave danger on Saturday against Phoenix. Boston trailed the host Coyotes by a 2-1 margin heading into the third period. Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, with 39 seconds left in the second period, just fired off a power-play goal past Bruins goalkeeper Tuukka Rask and the near post for the lead.

However, the Bruins came roaring back. Three minutes and 48 seconds into the third period, Chara fired a shot that deflected off of left wing Jarome Iginla and past Phoenix goalie Mike Smith to tie the game at 2-2. From there, Boston took control of the game.

Right wing Shawn Thornton broke through for the go-ahead goal with 3:18 remaining in regulation, tipping in a feed past Smith from left wing Daniel Paille.

Iginla put the icing on the cake, slotting home an empty-netter with 31.7 seconds left to ice the 4-2 victory for the Bruins.

There was no doubt, though, for Boston in a road match at Denver the previous night. Goalie Chad Johnson made 31 saves and the Bruins cruised to a 2-0 victory.

While Colorado outshot the road team by a 14-6 margin in the first period, Boston struck first. Center Patrice Bergeron, with 5:12 remaining in the period, slotted the puck right at Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov, but then picked up a critical rebound. He found an opening past Varlamov's outstretched left pad and fired it right past the goalkeeper for the 1-0 advantage.

Center Carl Soderberg added an insurance goal at the 13:11mark in the second period with a shot that soared to an exposed part of the net over Varlamov's right shoulder.

On Tuesday, the Bruins had to rely once again on its offense for a 4-2 victory over the Devils. Bergeron opened up the scoring at the 14:33 mark in the first period with a backhand shot through New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur's legs for the early lead.

After ceding a power-play goal to New Jersey center Patrik Elias, left wing Brad Marchand responded with a resounding one-timer into the top right corner to hand the lead right back to the Bruins.

Iginla joined the scoring frenzy just 59 seconds later, slotting the puck past a beleaguered Brodeur for a 3-1 lead.

Bergeron netted the Bruins' lone goal in Monday's 2-1 shootout loss, when he redirected defenseman Dougie Hamilton's snap shot into the net at 14:34 of the third period.
Rask stopped 21 shots in the loss.

The Bruins will square off against the Chicago Blackhawks in a home match on Thursday at 7 p.m.
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