Shockingly, the Toronto Maple Leafs aren't dead yet. Left standing -- strike that, hobbling -- with a 2.9 percent chance of making the NHL playoffs, the season series between the Leafs and Boston Bruins comes to a close tonight in the Hub.

Sitting six points away from the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, the bad news for those in Toronto is that a loss tonight essentially kills any light the Leafs see at the end of the tunnel. And the downright dreadful news is that you're going against a Boston club that's taken all five meetings this year.

With ease, in fact.

Outside of the Bruins' 5-4 win over the Leafs, the B's have kinda just blown Toronto out of the water this year. But with Randy Carlyle at the helm, Boston coach Claude Julien has noted the change in the Leafs' philosophy.

"You’re starting to see [Carlyle's] imprint on the team in different areas, even the forecheck and their D zone," Julien said in his pregame address to the media. "Certainly it’s a lot to put on his plate in this short amount of time, but you can see it’s starting to change – his philosophies and his approach to the game is starting to show."

In net, the Bruins will give the start to Tim Thomas. With 19 wins in 31 career games against Toronto, Thomas comes into play with a 4-0-0 record and 2.25 goals-against-average versus the Maple Leafs this year. The 37-year-old Thomas stopped 27 of 29 shots on Saturday to pick up the win.

The Maple Leafs will counter with James Reimer, who will his sixth career against the Bruins tonight. Boasting a .919 save-percentage in those showings, the 6-foot-2 Reimer comes into Boston a winner in two straight, stopping 73 of 75 shots faced.

Game-Changers

To say that Zdeno Chara has ravaged the Leafs this year would be an understatement. The 6-foot-9 defensemen has two goals and seven assists in five games versus Toronto this year, and comes into play with a minus-3 in his last four games. Look for a bee to be under the C's bonnet tonight.

Look out for Tim Connolly tonight. While this hasn't been a year to remember for Connolly, the Leafs enter play a whopping 8-1-1 on the year when the 30-year-old tallies a goal. The New York native enters play with 30 points in 39 career games against the Bruins.

Stats of Note

- B's center Patrice Bergeron does not have a goal in 11 games.

- Boston's 15-0-0 when Chris Kelly has a goal.

- Just three of Phil Kessel's 97 goals as a Leaf have come against Boston.

- Defensemen Carl Gunnarsson is one point away from tying his career high of 20.

- Dave Steckel does not have a point in eight games.

News and Notes

For the second straight game, defensemen Joe Corvo will watch from the press-box. While the veteran blue-liner has been battling a hand injury per some, Julien has noted that he's healthy enough to play, but will be Boston's scratch. Greg Zanon will continue to skate in his place.

Help is on the way! Well, kinda. Rich Peverley took part in the morning skate today, and while the versatile forward isn't set to join the lineup tonight (or any time in the immediate future), he's made the jump to 'day-to-day' as he continues to recover from a knee injury.

"There’s no exact time for when he’s going to start playing again, but he’s looking better every day," Julien confirmed following the skate. "When you’re gone for that long, you don’t just come back over night. So we’re going to give him a chance and wait for our doctors to clear him."

The next step for Peverley will be clearance for contact.

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