from Joe Haggerty of CSNNE,

The Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers all earned two points on Tuesday night to pass by the Bruins in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. The more sobering realization: Each of those teams also has games in hand on Boston. The B's 15-13-3 record after the first 31 games is their worst over that number of games in any of the eight seasons that Claude Julien has been coach. If the B's don't find another gear, and soon, this may be the first season a Julien-coached Bruins team doesn't made the playoffs.

more on the Bruins after their 3-2 shootout loss to Nashville last night...

Also from Haggerty,

“You’ve got Zdeno [Chara] coming back as your top defenseman, and you’ve got David Krejci still out and injured,” said Julien to reporters following Tuesday night’s loss in Nashville. “We’ve had our best players out this season, so there’s no doubt that we’ve had to scramble. Now that we’ve got players coming back it’s going to make us better.

“I think we’re making a big deal out of a guy [in Chara] that’s missing two months. The first couple of games were a bit of a challenge, but he’s getting better and finding his game. I told him, and everybody, it’s like training camp for him after he’s been out for two months. It’s like just starting the season when everybody he’s playing with and against him has been going pretty good for the last few months.”

more

below, a look at the Eastern Conference race including wild card spots...