Healthy Bruins know now is time they ‘need to bring it'

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BRIGHTON, Mass. – With Tuukka Rask set to start against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night at TD Garden and Joakim Nordstrom also healthy enough to return to the lineup, the Bruins have cleared everybody off the injured list. That’s pretty much the first time all season their lineup is healthy from top to bottom and it’s really the first chance the B’s have to see how their full group stacks up against the rest of the Eastern Conference.

The Black and Gold did a good job of maintaining a playoff spot in the first half while missing Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara, among others, for big chunks of time. Strangely enough, the B’s have had a more difficult time stacking up points as they’ve moved closer to a fully healthy group, and have lost four of five sandwiched around their bye week and NHL All-Star weekend.

Now, the challenge from the coaching staff is for the Bruins to take advantage of their good fortune, develop some consistency and identity and stick right where they are in the middle of a playoff position.

“We assume we’re going to finish well down the stretch and put ourselves in a good position, but so do probably nine other teams in the Eastern Conference,” said Bruce Cassidy. “We need to make sure we take care of business every night. That was a bit of a conversation [on Wednesday]. This will be the healthiest that we’ve been all year as long as Tuukka is ready to go, so now it becomes about who we are and what everybody’s job is. And we need to bring it.”

The Bruins enter Thursday night’s game against the Flyers in the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and just a point out of the third spot in the Atlantic Division. They have a four-point cushion for a postseason spot, but it’s clear from their message and actions that the Bruins know now is the time to start stepping it up with a fully intact lineup.

That means no more losses to non-playoff teams like the Flyers even if they might be the hottest team in the NHL with five wins in a row coming into tonight.  

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