Ames: Bruins should prioritize health over this final regular-season stretch

One of the luxuries of the Bruins' record-setting season is that a playoff spot is all but guaranteed at this point. The B's broke the 100-point barrier in its 7-1 win against the Sabres on Thursday and will likely clinch a postseason berth in the next week or so.

The rest of the teams currently in playoff position will probably have to wait until late March/early April before their spots are secured, putting the B's (48-8-5) in a unique position.

Given the recent trend of Bruins injuries, coupled with its huge cushion in the standings, the B's should focus more on icing a healthy lineup in the playoffs than wins and losses over these last 21 regular-season games.

On Thursday, the Bruins lost Brad Marchand to a lower-body injury after taking a hard hit in the second period. Marchand did not return to the game and now becomes the third Bruins winger to suffer an injury in less than a week.

Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno were each placed on injured reserve earlier on Thursday, with Hall being put on LTIR, signifying a more serious injury than initially believed.

Although the B's addressed part of those depth concerns with the addition of Tyler Bertuzzi from the Red Wings, their forward corps is playing with fire of late.

Just a couple of games ago against the Oilers, both David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron took high sticks inches away from their eye. In that same game, Marchand appeared to be cut on the back of the leg.

If anything serious were to happen to Bergeron, Marchand, David Pastrnak or Linus Ullmark, it would classify as a catastrophic loss.

Despite the Bruins powering through seemingly every challenge thrown their way so far, they simply would not be the same without its top performers available once the playoffs roll around.

Now, it's not like NHL players are eager and willing to sit out games, but head coach Jim Montgomery should make those tough decisions for the betterment of the group as a whole.

Montgomery is already doing that to a degree with his defensemen, as Connor Clifton, Matt Grzelcyk, Brandon Carlo and Derek Forbort have all been healthy-scratched since the addition of Dmitry Orlov. The circumstances are a bit different there as those moves are more about getting Orlov reps and seeing who he fits with the best, but the fact that he's doing it shows that he's open to that way of thinking.

As far as the players who should get the most rest, it starts with No. 37. Bergeron's body has been taking an absolute beating for years and even though he's still a top player in the league, preserving as much health as possible will only benefit the B's

Not to mention the fact that it's potentially the captain's last season, the Bruins should be doing everything in their power to make sure Bergeron is as close to 100 percent as possible.

After that, guys like Krejci, Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm should be targeted next for off days. Krejci is in a similar boat as Bergeron as far as being a veteran with a lot of miles on him, while McAvoy and Lindholm are on the younger side, but eat huge minutes almost every game.

The Bruins have put themselves in a great position with its historic regular season and because of that, they should take advantage of the spot they're in. Although convincing a player to sit out now might seem like a challenge, the B's would be way worse off in the postseason without one or more of any of its impact players.