B's in for tough test against defending champs

While a berth in the postseason is certainly a feather in their cap, the Boston Bruins know there's a long way to go before they reach their goal.

The Black and Gold clinched a spot in the playoffs on Sunday with a win over the Flyers in Philadelphia and will now look to lock up the Northeast Division.

"It's always a good feeling," center Patrice Bergeron said of qualifying for the postseason. "There's seven games left and it's just one step toward our goal. Once you get in the playoffs, anything can happen. We're happy we clinched, but we haven't clinched the division yet. These are games we need to play well going into the playoffs."

The Bruins know how vital it is for them to play well  over the next few weeks, as bad habits and half-hearted play could carry on into the playoffs and spell doom.

"We want to make sure that we don't coast into the playoffs," Milan Lucic said. We want to make sure we're still being sharp and playing the way we know we can play."

Boston's matchup on Tuesday night will be just about the furthest thing from an automatic two points. The Chicago Blackhawks will visit TD Garden, as last year's Cup winners are fighting tooth and nail to hang on to the eighth spot in the Western Confernece.

"Obviously they're a great team," said Bergeron. "They're the defending champs. They're battling for a playoff spot, so it's going to be a tough game. We'll make sure we're ready and go from there."

While the 'Hawks boast some of the best offensive talents in the league, featuring Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa, the Bruins have a pretty potent trio of their own in Lucic, David Krejci and Nathan Horton.

Krejci has elevated his game tremendously since the All-Star break. The first-line pivot will enter Tuesday's tilt with 21 points in his last 18 games.

"It's been fun to watch," Lucic said of Krejci's second-half surge. "He always seems to find an extra gear. I think he has a lot of fun with this time of year because it's exciting for him. He's definitely a player that we need to step up his game in order for us to have some success and hopefully make a long playoff push here."

One other key element to the Bruins potential playoff success will be continuing their turnaround on the power play. That effort kept rolling on Sunday in Philadelphia, as Boston scored both of their goals that night on the man advantage.

"I think we got the results that we wanted," said Bergeron. "At the same time, I felt that we were moving the puck better in the last eight or nine games or so. Now it finally worked and went in, so it obviously feel good, especially winning a game like that with our power play. It's definitely something we needed going into the playoffs."

Lucic also recognized how critical it will be to have the power play clicking.

"We need it to be something we can count on to get us a big goal in key moments," he said, "and it's been doing that lately."

As a long, arduous season winds down and the playoffs loom, Lucic believes that all the wear and tear one endures during the year is just a small price to pay to have another shot at a long run in the postseason.

"It's what you play for and it's the most exciting time of year," he said. "You almost seem to find that second wind. It is a grind going through an 82-game season, but it's a lot of fun when you put yourself in a position like this."

Kendrys Morales is set back by a new injury, will open season on the DL

Reporting from Tempe, Ariz. — The return of Angels first baseman Kendrys Morales, already clouded by his slower-than-anticipated recovery from a broken lower left leg, has been pushed back even further.

Morales has soreness in the ball of his left foot, an injury that is not directly related to his surgery to repair the broken leg but has slowed his rehabilitation from it.

Morales returned to Los Angeles on Monday to be examined by Dr. Phil Kwong, a foot and ankle specialist. An MRI test revealed no structural damage in the foot, but there is too much inflammation for Morales to resume his running program.

"He's still working through some flexibility issues with his ankle and foot, and until those are resolved he can't move forward," General Manager Tony Reagins said. "He's day to day right now."

The Angels expected Morales, who broke his leg while jumping on home plate after a game-winning home run last May 29, to be a "full go" for the start of spring training.

He has been a no-go. The switch-hitting slugger, who in 2009 hit .306 with 34 home runs and 108 runs batted in, has not played in an exhibition game this spring and will open the season on the disabled list.

He began running from home to first on March 15, but the pain in his foot, which may have been caused by ill-fitting spikes, prevented him from rounding the bases aggressively.

"Obviously, we'd prefer he was ready, but we understand the significance of the injury," Reagins said. "If we can be conservative and smart on the front end, hopefully it will benefit us in the long run."

The Angels are expected to open the season with Mark Trumbo at first. The rookie has had an excellent spring, entering Tuesday with a .340 average, five homers and 13 RBIs. But he also had 13 strikeouts and no walks in 47 at-bats, and he has only 15 at-bats in the big leagues.

"Spring training is spring training," Reagins said. "You still have to go out there and do it at the major league level, in season, but it's good to see what he's done in spring training."

Trumbo had 36 homers and 122 RBIs at triple-A Salt Lake last season, but having Morales in the middle of the lineup would give the Angels a much better chance of winning the American League West title.

"I'm real confident in saying he'll be back in relatively short order," Reagins said. "I'm not anticipating him being out for months."

Back on track

Dan Haren gave up eight runs in 6 2/3 innings, but the right-hander called Tuesday's 95-pitch outing against a Cubs triple-A team a huge step in the right direction.

"I felt really good; I left a lot of balls up, but my arm speed is finally back," Haren said. "That was the longest dead-arm period I've ever had. I haven't felt good since [a March 7 game in] Mesa.

"But it bounced back today, and I'm glad."

Pineiro update

Joel Pineiro, who left Sunday's triple-A start after two innings because of tightness in his right shoulder blade, will remain in Arizona after the Angels break camp. He will pitch in a minor league game March 30.

With two off days in the first week of the regular season, the Angels won't need a fifth starter until April 10, so they could open the season with Pineiro on the DL and carry an extra reliever or position player.

Brodeur to make eighth straight start

NEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur will make his eighth straight start Tuesday when his team hosts the Atlanta Thrashers here at the Prudential Center.

The choice is not too much of a surprise, particularly when you consider the future Hall of Fame goalie is 14-1-1 with a 1.81 goals-against average in his last 16 starts. The Devils, 22-3-2 in their last 27 games, have been playing playoff-type hockey for quite some time now as they continue their remarkable push to qualify for the postseason.

"What I'm enjoying right now is, regardless of how we play, we're staying in games," Brodeur said. "Even though we allow goals, we keep it under control when we're not playing that good. I think that makes it easier for me. I know we're able to shut it down and chip back into the game."

Seventeen of their last 19 games have been decided by one goal, including 12 of the last 14 victories. Also, the team's last four wins have been determined either in overtime or the shootout.

The Devils were allowing 3.17 goals per game when they were 15th in the Eastern Conference at 9-23-2 on Dec. 23. Today, they're allowing just 2.55 and are eight points from the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"You play the game the way it's played," Brodeur said. "For years that question has been asked to me because we didn't score that many goals and were always in tight games. I don't look at it like, 'I can't allow more than one or two goals.' I don't see it like that. I just play the game the way it's played. At the end of the game, it ends up to be a one-goal game or a 2-1 game or a 3-2 game."

Brodeur, who missed 13 games because of injury this season, is 19-20-2 with a 2.52 GAA and .902 save percentage. Backup John Hedberg is 13-11-2 with a 2.34 GAA and .913 save percentage.

Penguins' Bylsma signs three-year extension

The typical NHL coach has the shelf life of a bruised pear.

Those who work for the Penguins often do not last nearly that long.

Dan Bylsma, who Wednesday signed a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2013-14 season, is the franchise's 23rd coach since it entered the NHL in 1967. Only two, Red Kelly and Ed Johnston, spent three consecutive full seasons and part of a fourth on the job.

But, while the position doesn't have a legacy of security for the guy holding it, general manager Ray Shero seems confident Bylsma is capable of defying those 4 1/2 decades of precedent.

"I think we've got the right coach," he said. "Ownership recognizes that. I certainly recognize that.

"The successful organizations have a plan in place, and a belief in the people they have, and they stick to that. ... Dan is the right coach for this hockey team moving forward, in the short term and the long term."

Bylsma replaced Michel Therrien as coach in mid-February 2009. (Therrien, it should be noted, had signed a three-year contract in the summer of 2008 and will remain on the Penguins payroll for a few more months, even though he hasn't been behind their bench in nearly 25 months.) The Penguins won a Stanley Cup about four months after Bylsma took over and are 104-52-19 under him. He already shares the franchise record for playoff series won (5), which speaks not only to his success but to the frequent turnover in his job over the years.

"I've been made aware several times of the longevity of Pittsburgh Penguins coaches," Bylsma said. "I might not be smart enough to have it dawn on me that that should be something I should be concerned about."

Actually, there doesn't seem to have been much reason for him to fret about it. Back when the Penguins were sputtering through the early weeks of this season, Shero let Bylsma know that the job was his.

"The team wasn't doing very well, but I sat down with him and said, 'Listen, you're my coach. I'm going to talk to you about a new contract at some point here,' " Shero said. "I was pretty sure we had a pretty good team back in October and November. I was 100 percent sure we had the right coach."

The contracts of assistant coaches Tony Granato and Todd Reirden will expire after this season, but Shero said he intends to work out new deals with them. The same is true, he added, of Wilkes-Barre coach John Hynes and his assistant, Alain Nasreddine.

"Both staffs have done really good jobs," Shero said. "We want to move forward with all these guys."http://longevity.com/

Baseball Is Said to End Large Loans to Mets

The Mets, in need of cash to pay off loans and meet other financial obligations, can no longer look to Major League Baseball for substantial monetary assistance, according to two people briefed on the team’s finances.

The league, having already extended the Mets a $25 million loan in November to help the team meet operating costs, will not make another major loan to the club, according to the two people. The people would not be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Baseball’s decision to restrict the Mets’ access to further emergency funds probably leaves the team’s beleaguered owners, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, without their best remaining source of cash as they struggle to maintain control of the team in the face of a $1 billion lawsuit brought by the trustee for victims of the Bernard L. Madoff fraud.

Mets officials did not respond to two requests for comment.

The two people briefed on the situation said baseball could conceivably re-evaluate its position in the coming months if it thought it needed to protect its larger interests, like trying to avoid a fire sale of one of its elite clubs. In addition, with opening day a month away, baseball could make a modest short-term loan to help the Mets avoid defaulting on certain payments, like player salaries. But it would not be enough to rescue the Mets’ owners in any long-term sense, the people suggested.

“It’s tapped out,” one of the people briefed on the situation said, referring to the availability of more money.

After months spent denying they faced any financial difficulties, the Mets, with significant debt on their team and cable television operation, announced in January that they were seeking to sell 25 percent of the team, valued by Forbes magazine last year at $858 million. They recently acknowledged they would consider selling a larger stake but maintained they would never sell a controlling interest.

The Mets say the sale offering is because of the “uncertainties” surrounding the lawsuit filed by the Madoff trustee, Irving H. Picard. The lawsuit, filed in December, accuses the owners of having turned a blind eye to the possibility Madoff was operating a fraud, all while they invested ever more of their money and reaped ever more of his “fictitious” profits.

The judge overseeing the suit has chosen Mario M. Cuomo, the former New York governor, to try to serve as a mediator in settlement talks.

But the Mets appear to be under significant financial duress independent of the lawsuit. The $25 million loan, which was made after the Mets had already used up an M.L.B.-sponsored line of credit worth tens of millions of dollars, was extended to the Mets before the lawsuit was filed. Some in the industry see the loan as an indication that because of their heavy indebtedness, they are no longer able to borrow substantially from traditional commercial lending institutions.

With pressure mounting, and the financial pipeline from M.L.B. shut off in any meaningful way, the Mets’ ability to keep creditors at bay could hasten the sale of a portion of the team as they seek cash. The Mets, of course, would love to get the best price for the piece of the club, but the process takes time as potential buyers must be vetted first by the club’s representative in the sale, Steve Greenberg, and then Major League Baseball.

Baseball recently intervened to try to shore up another franchise, the Texas Rangers. In June 2009, soon after Texas’ holding company defaulted on $525 million in loans, Major League Baseball provided the club with a $15 million line of credit. Then, in November 2009, baseball again used its $1.2 billion credit facility to let the Rangers borrow up to $10 million more.

The Rangers had apparently used $18.5 million of the $25 million by the time they filed for bankruptcy protection last May. Several days after the filing, baseball agreed to provide the team with another $21 million loan. When the loans became public, the owners of several other teams complained that the loans gave the Rangers a competitive advantage, particularly when the team traded for the ace pitcher Cliff Lee.

In subsequent court testimony, Kellie Fischer, the Rangers’ chief financial officer, said that the team’s lending relationship with baseball “works for us.”

Fischer testified: “We’ve never had any issues with borrowing money as far as getting funded timely and providing information back and forth. M.L.B. has been very easy for us to work with.”

But the loans and working relationship notwithstanding, the Rangers’ owner, Tom Hicks, was still forced to sell. The team was sold for $593 million last August, and the loans were repaid.