Time to bring in the big guns. We need what's left of the 2004 Red Sox to make a conference call from the Bronx. We need Terry Francona talking to Claude Julien, David Ortiz talking to Zdeno Chara, Curt Schilling talking to Tim Thomas. Call Dave Roberts and Kevin Millar and get them involved, too. Maybe even Curtis Leskanic is available.

Because the '04 Sox are about the only team who knows what the Bruins are feeling right now. Backed against terrifying odds, on the verge of being knocked out by a longtime "rival" whose success against them is much more acute on the field/ice than on paper. The Bruins, in the vernacular, are in trouble. They played with pride and aggression last night, but in the end it came down to goaltending. Neither team got off a lot of great shots, but Patrice Brisebois' (on a power play) went in for Montreal, and none of the Bruins' did. The Canadiens protected 11-year-old goalie Carey Price well, and when shots did come at him, he stopped them. The only certainties in life are death, taxes, and a hot goalie in the playoffs.

All's right in the world in baseball, at least, as the Red Sox are back in first place in the AL East (magic number:148) after another grinder in Cleveland. It was a thoroughly satisfying debut for third baseman Jed Lowrie, who drove in the Sox' first three runs. (His teammates pranked him good in one of those stories that remind us why we love baseball.) Javier Lopez and Manny Delcarmen hit a batter apiece in the seventh, which helped the Tribe tie it up, but Jason Varitek's pinch-hit homer in the ninth gave the Sox the 4-3 win. Francona hates using 'Tek on his regular Wakefield-inspired nights off, but this time he's glad he did.

You probably have already seen the Patriots' 2008 schedule. At a glance, it looks like the boys have a good chance to be 4-0 going into a Sunday night matchup with Darth Tomlinson and the Chargers. Denver, Indy, Pittsburgh and Seattle look like the only other games that aren't paper mismatches. Of course, we all know now that "steamrolling through October" and $1.75 will get you a cup of coffee. Damn it.

TONIGHT: The Sox, in the Bronx, try to avenge Chien-Ming Wang's masterpiece last week. The Celtics have their final regular season tuneup against the Nets. Hawks GM Dominique Wilkins thinks Atlanta has a chance to upset the C's in the first round. What exactly did they think he'd say? And Curt Schilling does NOT want to pitch for the Yankees, despite what his doctor said. Wouldn't that fall under patient privilege, anyway?

Photo by Elise Amendola/AP.