Boston Bruins
The Bruins will coming into the postseason as a wild-card group within the Jap Convention.
After a one-year hiatus, the Boston Bruins are heading again to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Boston stamped its ticket to the postseason on Saturday because of some assist from a number of different Jap Convention golf equipment.
A win in any capability for Boston on Saturday in opposition to the Tampa Bay Lightning would have outright secured the Bruins’ spot within the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
However even after Boston fell to Tampa, 2-1, at TD Backyard, the Bruins nonetheless had a chance to lock up a spot within the playoffs if a number of different breaks went their approach within the Jap Convention.
They obtained some assist because of each the Senators and the Devils, who defeated the Islanders and the Pink Wings, respectively, on Saturday to push Boston into the postseason image for good.
The Bruins is perhaps mired in a five-game shedding streak (0-3-2), however Boston remains to be sitting at 96 factors within the standings with simply two video games left to play.
With each the Pink Wings (91 factors) and Islanders (91 factors) shedding on Saturday, each groups can’t catch the Bruins and Senators (96 factors) within the wild-card standings with solely so many video games to go on the regular-season slate.
Regardless of the irritating optics of Boston backing right into a playoff spot, the 2025-26 season has nonetheless been a powerful success for Marco Sturm in his first 12 months on the helm as Bruins head coach.
A 12 months faraway from bottoming out with simply 76 factors and a 33-39-10 document, the Bruins can have surged again with a reworked roster and hard-nosed, bodily id that might have them poised to be powerful out in opposition to whoever they draw within the first spherical.
Whereas stars like David Pastrnak, Jeremy Swayman, and Charlie McAvoy have led the way in which for Boston, it’s a testomony to Boston’s depth that the Bruins’ depth chart options eight completely different skaters who’ve scored not less than 15 objectives this season.
This marks the sixteenth time within the final 20 years that the Bruins have secured a playoff spot, with solely the Penguins (17) and Capitals (16) matching or exceeding that complete over a two-decade span.
It nonetheless stays to be seen who the Bruins will draw within the first spherical of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Ottawa and Boston is perhaps tied in factors, however the Senators at the moment are sitting within the first wild-card spot because of having extra regulation wins than the Bruins. As such, Boston is at present slated to attract the highest seed within the Jap Convention within the Carolina Hurricanes.
In keeping with HockeyStats.com, the Bruins have a 68 p.c likelihood to face Carolina with two video games to go, with the Buffalo Sabres second with 23 p.c odds.
Even when the Bruins had been to win their subsequent two video games in opposition to Columbus (Sunday) and New Jersey (Tuesday), the Senators would nonetheless maintain onto their WC1 spot if in addition they win out — with Ottawa set to play the Devils on Sunday and the Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
Truthful to say, there’s rather a lot that may change over the subsequent few days because the Bruins brace for playoff hockey.
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