For the first time since the 2013-14 season, the Boston Bruins have booked their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, courtesy of a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

This most recent victory - Boston's sixth in a row - improved the Bruins' record to 18-7-0 since the decision was made to fire Claude Julien in favor of interim bench boss Bruce Cassidy, who's made a good case to have that tag removed sooner rather than later.

The Bruins, however, were forced to play 40-plus minutes without leading scorer Brad Marchand, who was ejected near the end of the first period for spearing Jake Dotchin.

Boston last advanced to the postseason as Presidents' Trophy winners in 2014. But they missed out on the postseason by two points in 2015, and came up short again last season after finishing level in points with Detroit but losing the tiebreaker.

What's yet to be determined is whether Boston will secure an Atlantic Division spot or fall to the second wild card. The former would mean a first-round date with Toronto or Ottawa, while the latter would set up a date with the top team in the Metropolitan Division, which will likely be Washington.

Either way, the Bruins will certainly be among the final 16.

As for the Lightning, they're still technically in the race, but their chances took a massive hit with this loss.

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Alex Ovechkin is well on his way to becoming the highest-scoring Russian NHLer of all time.

With an assist Tuesday in Toronto, the Washington Capitals captain broke a tie with Alexander Mogilny for second in all-time points by a Russian. No. 8 now trails only Sergei Fedorov.

Ovechkin's already his country's most successful goal-scorer, having passed Fedorov in November 2015, and is the only Russian to hit the elusive 500-mark in the NHL.

The Maple Leafs have been victimized heavily by Ovechkin over the years. The 31-year-old now has 33 goals and 60 points in 42 games against the blue and white.

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Brothers don't shake hands. Brothers gotta hug.

Prior to the Minnesota Wild's home game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, visiting assistant captain Jordan Staal presented big brother Eric Staal with a painting to commemorate his recent 1,000th career appearance.

Eric, of course, played 909 of those games with the Hurricanes, serving as longtime captain, winning a Stanley Cup, and writing the offensive record books in the process.

Here's a closer look at the painting.

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NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was a guest on Sportsnet's "Prime Time Sports" on Tuesday evening, and the hot topic of conversation was, of course, the league's decision to not attend the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Here are the major takeaways from the 18-minute interview:

• Bettman was clear in saying that the league's announcement Monday isn't some sort of posturing effort in order to get the NHL to the games. The clubs don't want to attend - period.
  • "We aren't looking for a negotiation," he said.
• Bettman reiterated that after taking part in five Olympics, the league no longer has interest in shutting down its season with no benefit of sending its players to the games.
  • "It's not like we didn't try to embrace the Olympics, but not only has it not done anything for our game, particularly here in North America, where our franchises play, it's been damaging to the seasons in terms of the competitiveness, in terms of the compression of the season, (and) injuries to players."
• The NHL, Bettman said, only had to ask itself one question: What's the point?
  • "If the IOC doesn't value our contributions, the fact that we lend players with contracts worth over $3 billion and shut down our season at a very important and prime time, when no other sports league would do it, why are we doing this?"
• Bettman cited the fact the league cannot promote itself at the games, and that the NHL has no access to signature moments like Sidney Crosby's golden goal in 2010, as one of its prime concerns over going.
• The commissioner also revealed the league asked for Olympic hockey to be played as part of the summer games.
  • "We made other suggestions. If the IOC would move the Olympics hockey tournament to the summer, that would be great, we'd be thrilled to have our players participate because then it doesn't affect our season. ... We asked to go to the summer and they said no, and why did they say no, because hockey in terms of hours of programming and the numbers of seats sold to the events is probably too important to the Winter Olympics and their economics. And so, again, nobody is suggesting anything to give the teams a reason to reconsider their position. And that's okay, because we know the clubs don't want to go and we weren't and aren't looking to renegotiate."

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Your daily dose of Erik Karlsson doing things many hockey players can't.

The Ottawa Senators captain cruised down the boards on the right wing, stopped up, and impossibly picked the top corner for his 17th goal of the season.

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Unfortunately for the Boston Bruins, Brad Marchand is up to his old tricks.

With his team looking to secure its first playoff spot in three seasons, Marchand - who's become an elite offensive winger - was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for a spear to the midsection on Tampa Bay's Jake Dotchin on Tuesday.

Given Marchand's history of high jinks, NHL Department of Player Safety may give this another look, with the Bruins having only two games remaining at the conclusion of the tilt with the Lightning.

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The Minnesota Wild paid tribute to their past Tuesday during warmups, and Zach Parise had some gear his players didn't.

The Wild forward was rocking his father J.P. Parise's helmet and gloves:

J.P. Parise spent the majority of his NHL career with the Minnesota North Stars, recording 396 points in 588 regular-season games.

Tuesday is the Wild's final home game of the regular season, and they're feting the 1967-68 team, which brought NHL hockey to Minnesota, as part of their fan-appreciation efforts.

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Martin Hanzal will don a vintage Minnesota North Stars jersey prior to the Wild's tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday in honor of Bill Masterton, the only player to die from injuries suffered during an NHL game.

At the end of every season, the NHL hands out the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

The Wild, of course, replaced the North Stars years after the latter moved to Dallas.

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Elaborate bluff, or set in stone?

In a statement released Monday, the National Hockey League announced the decision to not disrupt the 2017-18 regular season in order to allow its players to participate in next February's Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The decision was made after months of negotiations and amid reports of high commercial demands made by the NHL in order to market the Olympics on its various platforms, even after the IIHF agreed to cover the players' travel and insurance costs.

Here's what you need to know about the decision and what's happened since:

NHL statement

• The NHL released a statement Monday afternoon reiterating the "overwhelming majority" of its clubs are adamantly opposed to disrupting next season's schedule to accommodate participation, adding, "in an effort to create clarity among conflicting reports and erroneous speculation, this will confirm our intention to proceed with finalizing our 2017-18 regular season schedule without any break to accommodate the Olympic Winter Games. We now consider the matter officially closed."

Preemptive action

• Shortly after the announcement was made, the league reportedly directed teams not to talk to the players about the possibility of playing in the 2018 Games, and that the NHL will rule on the matter at a later date.

NHLPA response

• "The players are extraordinarily disappointed and adamantly disagree with the NHL's shortsighted decision to not continue our participation in the Olympics," the league's players union said in a statement Monday night. "Any sort of inconvenience the Olympics may cause to next season's schedule is a small price to pay compared to the opportunity to showcase our game and our greatest players on this enormous international stage."

Player reaction

Taking their cue from the PA, individual players didn't shy away from making their feelings known.

• Marc-Edouard Vlasic tweets Olympic logo after NHL says it won't go to South Korea
• Ex-NHLer Brandon Prust rips Bettman: 'Way to ruin the sport of hockey even more'
• Erik Karlsson calls Olympic decision 'crap,' won't say if he'll defy NHL and play
• Anton Stralman on NHL's Olympic decision: 'They crushed a dream'
• Braden Holtby won't play in Olympics without NHL involvement
• Alex Ovechkin: 'I'm still going' to 2018 Olympics
• Jonathan Toews: Olympic decision shows NHL headed in direction of lockout

And it didn't stop there, as various players around the league continued to blast the NHL for the 'disappointing' Olympic decision.

What now?

Host of questions remain

• "The NHL insisted Monday that the matter is 'officially closed' as it slammed the door on the Olympics for the first time since 1994. But a host of questions remain, from how national teams will fill their rosters to just how the league will deal with players like Ovechkin who plan to go anyway. Most players know nothing of the days when the NHL wasn't part of the Games, so the news that they won't get that chance in Pyeongchang didn't sit well at rinks around North America."

Glimmer of hope?

• The International Ice Hockey Federation has said they are continuing to search for a solution to allow for NHL players to participate in Pyeongchang, but "team owners likely now need a 'game-changer' offer on the table."

Canada, U.S. preparing for 'Plan B' without NHLers

• Without being able to choose from the best of the best, it's time to dig deep in order to field the most competitive rosters possible.

Projecting Canada's 2018 Pyeongchang roster

• A look at who could play for Canada if NHL players don't make the trip. Make sure to have Hockeydb handy for this list.

All things considered, this matter is far from officially closed.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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Barry Trotz is offering some high praise for Tuesday night's opponent.

The Washington Capitals bench boss, who's in Toronto for an important clash with the Maple Leafs, was asked if he's ever seen anything similar to the young club's success this season.

"Yeah I have," Trotz said, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox. "Edmonton Oilers, way back in the day. Starting with 99."

The Maple Leafs, led by historically productive rookies, among other things, have transformed from a 30th place laughingstock to a team that can clinch a playoff berth with a win and some help Tuesday.

"They're playing with structure," Trotz said. "A lot of focus and commitment. They're in a position to be in the playoffs right now. They're playing good hockey, they're getting great goaltending from (Frederik) Andersen, so there's not a lot of holes in their game. They got it dialled."

Both Washington and Toronto are red-hot of late, each going 8-1-1 over their last 10 games.

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