After finishing in last place in the Atlantic Division a year ago, the Boston Bruins were no longer viewed as a team of influence in the NHL. They hired a first-year head coach in Marco Sturm and had made a series of moves at last year's trade deadline to get younger and more aggressive, but little was expected as the Bruins were in the early stages of a rebuild.
However, that rebuild turned out to be a retooling and a year of overachieving. As the season has reached the home stretch, the Bruins are in a battle for a playoff spot with the Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Islanders.
The Bruins have played remarkably well at home, having won 14 of their last 15 games at TD Garden, but have shown a propensity for losing games on the road, especially after taking an early lead.
That problem came to the surface in their outdoor game with the Tampa Bay Lightning at Raymond James Stadium in early February. The Bruins had a 5-1 lead but ended up losing in overtime. They have gone 1-2-4 on the road since then, with a crucial road game against the Red Wings scheduled for Saturday night.
The Bruins have demonstrated a strong battle level this season, and they have had bounce-back seasons from Jeremy Swayman (poor 2024-25 performance), Charlie McAvoy (injury/illness) and Hampus Lindholm (injury). Newcomers Viktor Arvidsson and Casey Mittelstadt have provided consistent production, while superstar David Pastrnak has shown off his playmaking skills as well as his goal-scoring abilities. Hard-shooting Morgan Geekie has been capable of filling the net.
The Bruins are capable of making the playoffs and perhaps advancing once they get there, but avoiding at least two teams in the opening round would be advisable.
Facing the Lightning in the opening round could be disastrous
The Tampa Bay Lightning was the hottest team in the Eastern Conference until the Olympic break. Head coach John Cooper's team when through a 19-1-1 streak at one point and had made it to first place in the Atlantic Division. They have not played as well since the season resumed and have fallen behind the Buffalo Sabres, but it is not inconceivable that they could retake the division lead.
If the Bruins ended up in one of the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference, they could face the Lightning. A matchup against MVP candidate Nikita Kucherov, high-scoring Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel, defenseman Victor Hedman and goaltender Andre Vasilevskiy would be a problem for Sturm & Co.
While all teams have problems keeping Kucherov in check, it seems like he always comes through against the Bruins. Point's creativity, speed and quickness are also a key problem for the Bruins.
The Bruins would go into a series with the Lightning with multiple concerns against one of the most talented rosters in the league. The reason the Bruins are in playoff contention this season is that they regularly play their game and know their strengths. If they had a matchup with the Lightning, they would likely be overwhelmed with attempting to slow down the competition instead of doing what they do best.
The Bruins could face the Lightning if they are a wild-card team and Tampa finishes as the Atlantic winner and becomes the No. 1 or 2 seed. If the Lightning finishes in second place in the division and the Bruins finish third, they would also meet.
Hurricanes would also be a problem for Boston
Carolina is one of the most experienced playoff teams in the league and they are likely to finish first in the Metropolitan Division. That means they would be the No. 1 or 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and play one of the two wild-card teams in the first round of the playoffs.
While the Hurricanes have had significant problems once they get past the opening round, they regularly know how to take care of business in the first round.
The top line of Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov regularly throw the puck around with speed and precision and they could overwhelm the Bruins defense. The second line includes Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall, and they are both opportunistic. Jaccob Slavin is one of the top defensemen in the league and he is capable of playing a shutdown role against Pastrnak.
The big hope for the Bruins would be that the Hurricanes are shaky in goal. Brandon Bussi has performed well this season (26-6-1, 2.47 goals against average, .894 save percentage) but he has no playoff experience, while Frederik Andersen is quite inconsistent.
The Bruins would want to avoid the Lightning and the Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs. They might have a chance for an upset against Carolina, but it would be quite unlikely to get past the Lightning.
