Consistency key now with 13 to go

4-1 loss against the league's worst. Less than 24 hours, one flight and a short night of rest later, a convincing 6-3 win against one of the league's best? How, in the last five games, does this team win in Detroit and Jersey and then lose two at home and in Philadelphia? Huh?

It doesn't make any sense. Then again, this team is known for playing remarkably bad against similar competition and often quite well against those in another, much higher class. That was fine for the last 69 games, but for the next 13, losing two in two weeks to Flyers will not be O.K. It might not even be O.K. right now, but yesterday's win in Detroit COULD be the start of something better, perhaps a sretch of consistent games.

Yesterday's win had plenty of subplots. Lewis' return to Detroit, Tim Thomas' first game back in his hometown state in front of his family and friends...there's a few more but regardless of the what many papers reported today, the only thing that mattered to anyone on that team was the win. A loss would have left the Bruins too far in the back seat with no chance of picking up enough speed in time.

Now they have rounded a corner and with 13 games remaining, the playoff picture at the bottom of the east looks like this:

(9) Carolina (34-28-8, 76 pts)
Trailing 8th seed (NY Rangers) by 0 points
Games remaining:12 (7 Home, 5 Away)
vs. +.500: 10 vs. East: 11

(10) Toronto (33-27-9, 75 pts)
Trailing 8th seed (NY Rangers) by 1 points
Games remaining:13 (7 Home, 6 Away)
vs. +.500: 11 vs. East: 13

(11) Montreal (34-30-6, 74 pts)
Trailing 8th seed (NY Rangers) by 2 points
Games remaining:12 (7 Home, 5 Away)
vs. +.500: 11 vs. East: 12

(12) Boston (33-31-5, 71 pts)
Trailing 8th seed (NY Rangers) by 5 points
Games remaining:13 (6 Home, 7 Away)
vs. +.500: 12 vs. East: 13

(13) Florida (29-27-13, 71 pts)
Trailing 8th seed (NY Rangers) by 5 points
Games remaining:13 (7 Home, 6 Away)
vs. +.500: 10 vs. East: 13

The Rangers could still fall out - at 76 points and with a few question marks, a Ranger berth is still up in the air. Across the Island however, there is momentum and a shot at actually pushing toward that cup. The Islanders boast a hot team, a new and proven playoff leader and young and confident goalie.

As for the Bruins, the next five games will be evidence enough. The home game in Washington is a must, after that at Rangers, at Montreal, and the back home again for Montreal and the Rangers. The playoffs have already begun.