The Bruins will find out Tuesday night whether they’ll face the Tampa Bay Lightning or Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, a best-of-seven series to open on Causeway Street as early as Saturday.
The Bruins, who hosted the Senators in the regular-season close-out Tuesday, fell into that either/or matchup with their 2-0 loss Monday night in Washington.
The Rangers on Monday clinched the Eastern Conference regular-season title, locking down home ice at Madison Square Garden through the first three rounds.
With a win Tuesday (in any fashion: regulation, overtime, or shootout), the Bruins would finish the season with 111 points and clinch the No. 1 spot in the Atlantic Division and face the Lightning, who have locked down the first wild-card spot in the East.
If the Bruins were to lose in any fashion Tuesday, then the Panthers could lock down the Atlantic title with a win or OT/shootout loss against the Maple Leafs. The Panthers, as of Tuesday morning, had five more regulation wins than the Bruins (41 to 36), giving them the tiebreaker should the two end up in a dead heat for total points.
The NHL has not yet made public its dates and start times for Round 1, but the Bruins will start on home ice, most likely Saturday. If the opponent is Tampa Bay, that increases the likelihood that it would be a matinee. A matchup with Toronto, one of the three Canadian teams in the postseason, likely would mean a later start for a Saturday game.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com.