Boston Bruins
The Bruins will enter the postseason as a Wild Card team in the Eastern Conference.
Morgan Geekie and the Bruins are back in the playoffs. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
After a year off, the Boston Bruins are back in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Boston stamped its ticket to the postseason on Saturday thanks to some help from a few other Eastern Conference clubs.
Boston’s win in any capacity Saturday over the Tampa Bay Lightning would have guaranteed the Bruins’ spot in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs.
But even after Boston falls to Tampa, 2-1, at TD Garden, the Bruins still have a chance to secure a spot in the playoffs if a few more breaks go their way in the Eastern Conference.
They received some help thanks to both the Senators and Devils, who defeated the Islanders and Red Wings, respectively, on Saturday to push Boston into the postseason picture for good.
The Bruins may be mired in a five-game losing streak (0-3-2), but Boston still sits at 96 points in the standings with just two games left to play.
With both the Red Wings (91 points) and Islanders (91 points) losing on Saturday, both teams can’t catch up to the Bruins and Senators (96 points) in the wild card standings with too many games left on the regular season slate.
Despite the depressing optics of Boston’s return to the playoffs, the 2025-26 season still represents a resounding success for Marco Sturm in his first year at the Bruins’ head coach.
A year after bottoming out with just 76 points and a 33-39-10 record, the Bruins will bounce back with a reworked roster and a tough physical identity that could have them ready to take on their first-round pick.
While stars like David Pastrnak, Jeremy Swayman, and Charlie McAvoy have led the way for Boston, it’s a testament to Boston’s depth that the Bruins’ depth chart features eight different skaters who have scored at least 15 goals this season.
This is the 16th time in the last 20 years that the Bruins have earned a playoff spot, with only the Penguins (17) and Capitals (16) matching or surpassing that total over two decades.
We still have to see who the Bruins draw in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Ottawa and Boston may be tied on points, but the Senators now sit in the first wild card spot as a result of their more regulation wins than the Bruins. As such, Boston is currently scheduled to draw the top seed in the Eastern Conference in the Carolina Hurricanes.
According to HockeyStats.comthe Bruins have a 68 percent chance of facing Carolina with two games remaining, with the Buffalo Sabers in second place at 23 percent.
Even if the Bruins win their next two games against Columbus (Sunday) and New Jersey (Tuesday), the Senators would still cling to their WC1 spot if they also won — with Ottawa scheduled to play the Devils on Sunday and the Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
It’s fair to say there’s a lot that can change over the next few days as the Bruins prepare for hockey action.
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