The wheels are coming off the bus. After Monday night's debacle in DC and Tuesday's shutout at the hands of Florida, the Bruins desperately needed a strong showing last night, with Toronto in town and their six-seed hanging by a thread.

They gave a strong performance, all right, but only if you gauge by smell. The Bruins opened a 1-0 lead, then watched helplessly as the Leafs pummeled them into a fine dust, scoring eight unanswered goals, sending Tim Thomas into a soul-searching shame spiral. "We're totally out of synch," understated coach Claude Julien. They're also now back in seventh place, with the Capitals coming in Saturday hoping to resume the pounding they administered the other day.

You already know about Jonathan Papelbon's issues being settled. Which means everyone is happy again (except for the allegedly nude scout). It's a really weird feeling, and we're waiting for the other shoe to drop. In the meantime, let's go to former GM Lou Gorman, who thinks that Papelbon's deal is a good move by the Sox and will help their relationship in the future. The Sox/Papelbon relationship, not the Lou/Papelbon relationship. Sorry if it got weird there for a second.

A bunch of ESPN writers tried to figure out who's going to win the Eastern Conference. Four out of six say the Celtics, with one dissension each for Detroit and Cleveland. The C's host the Bulls tonight, who would be our first-round opponent if the season ended today, which it doesn't.