For the 2010 to 2011 season, justSports has been given a press pass to attend Boston Bruins home games. We will cover these games periodically throughout the year.If there was ever a late-season stretch that tested a team's preparation for the playoffs, the Bruins just went through it. Boston faced off against three straight Eastern Conference playoff teams last week for the second time this month and came out with a tight grasp on the third seed in the playoff standings, clinching a playoff berth for the fourth-consecutive season. The Bruins beat the Flyers in Philadelphia 2-1 last Sunday, lost to the New York Rangers 1-0 last Saturday and shellacked the Montreal Canadiens 7-0 last Thursday. With an additional win last Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils, the Bruins now have 94 points with seven games remaining on the season.

Earlier this month, Boston went 1-2-1 in four straight games against Eastern Conference playoff teams. The last time they went through such a stint was back in October, when the Bruins went 2-1 in three games against the Washington Capitals and the Rangers.

Defenseman Andrew Ference said that these types of games late in the season are exactly what the team needs heading into the playoffs.

"I mean, it's great. These last 10 [games] for us are as good as preparation as you can get," Ference said. "We're playing teams that are fighting for playoff spots. We're playing teams that are at the top of the tables. And then you got teams like [New] Jersey ... that are really hot, the hottest teams in the league. So it's great prep for us."

Last Saturday against the Rangers, the only goal of the game was scored in the first period and came with controversy. Rangers' center Derek Stepan was offside on a play just 6 minutes into the game but was not called for the infraction. The ensuing Rangers' possession resulted in an offensive zone faceoff on which Stepan scored.

Bruins' coach Claude Julien called out the officials in his postgame press conference, saying that the crew also missed a false start infraction on the face-off that led to the Rangers' lone goal.

"There's one mulligan, but I didn't feel that they needed two," he said.

The second period was quiet, but Boston turned it on in the third period in a final effort to try to tie the score. The Bruins outshot New York 26 to 23 in the game, and 12 to 1 in the third period, but the Rangers' goaltending and defense held strong for the win.

New York blocked 29 shots in the game and goalie Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves en route to his league-leading 11th shutout of the season. It was also his 400th career NHL game and 20th consecutive start this season.

"Guys just battled hard tonight," Lundqvist said. "Blocking shots was going to be a big part because their defense is very active. The puck goes back to the blue line a lot. They're shooting fast. Coming up with those blocks was big. Me, personally, I just tried to fight all night to see the puck and felt like I was very active. As the game went on, it got more and more intense. It's a great feeling."

Last Thursday's game was the first meeting between the Canadiens and Bruins since the March 8 game in Montreal when Bruins' defenseman Zdeno Chara checked Canadiens' forward Max Pacioretty into the sideboards near the team benches, giving Pacioretty a concussion and causing local Montreal authorities to launch a criminal investigation into what was a legal hockey play. Though nothing has come of the investigation aside from heightened media attention and fan protests, the tension between the two already archrivals was expected to be higher than usual.

The buzz in the TD Garden spiked early with a Bruins' goal just 1:01 into the first period. Defenseman Johnny Boychuk tracked down a rebound off a Chara shot and blasted a slap shot of his own past Canadien goalie Carey Price. From there, it was all Boston.

The Bruins added to their lead at 13:43 when forward Gregory Campbell deflected a shot from the point that trickled past Price. The Bruins immediately went on the powerplay when the Canadiens' Tomas Plekanec took a double minor for high sticking just 30 seconds later and finally converted when Nathan Horton put home a loose puck in front of the net at 17:28 after nearly 3:30 of solid puck movement within the offensive zone. Boston took the 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

After a scoreless second, Bruins forward Nathan Horton tallied his second goal of the game on a perfectly executed 2-on-1 play, receiving a cross-ice pass from forward David Krejci at 4:03 into the third period. Just seconds later, the Bruins forced Price out of the game as they added their fifth goal of the night off a slap shot by defenseman Adam McQuaid from the left point that was deflected in by a Canadien player at 4:29.

Later with the score 6-0, Campbell tacked on the team's seventh goal of the night on a shorthanded breakaway in the midst of a nearly full 5-on-3 power play for Montreal, making the final score 7-0.

"I never thought we would do this," Bruins forward Mark Recchi said. "[I] thought it would be close."

The Bruins opened the week against the red-hot Devils, who entered the game on a 24-5-2 run. An early power play goal by Devils' forward Ilya Kovalchuk put New Jersey up 1-0 in the first period, but the Bruins took control and scored four unanswered goals the rest of the way to secure a 4-1 victory. Bruins forward Shawn Thornton answered Kovalchuk's goal to tie the game later in the first period, and Chara, forward Milan Lucic and Recchi rounded out the scoring for Boston in the second and third periods.

Last week, in all likelihood, previewed a first-round playoff matchup for Boston with either the Rangers or Canadiens. The Bruins sit in third place in the conference standings, while New York and Montreal battle for the sixth seed, each tied with 87 points with six games remaining. Boston proved though that it can compete consistently with the top teams in the conference, handling Montreal and knocking off the Flyers on the road.

In the electric playoff-like atmosphere that the 17,565 Garden fans provided against Montreal last Thursday, the team was at its best. Bruins fans hope that it was a preview of results to come during the playoffs.

The Bruins are next in action tonight at home against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Jonathan Epstein contributed reporting