The Boston Bruins entered the 2025-26 season looking to move forward after retooling the roster at the trade deadline back in March and in free agency in the summer. So far this season, the Bruins are hanging in there in terms of the playoff picture.
Entering Nov. 26, the Bruins are 13-11-0 through 24 games, and hold the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. That's good, but the issue is that the Eastern Conference is so wide open. The Bruins may hold a playoff spot, but they have eight teams within five points of taking it away for them.
Given how front-loaded the season is, the Bruins need to keep winning games. Looking at their schedule, these are three games Bruins fans should be concerned about.
Dec. 14 at Minnesota Wild
The good news for the Bruins is that they have a favorable schedule after Thanksgiving, including two against the St. Louis Blues. But one of the matchups the Bruins faithful should be dreading is against the Minnesota Wild.
Through 23 games, the Wild are 12-7-4 on the year. They aren't getting many goals outside of Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Marcus Johansson. But if there is one advantage the wild has, it's at goaltender. Specifically, with rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt.
So far this season, Wallstedt has been incredible, posting a 6-0-2 record, a 1.94 goals allowed average, a .935 save percentage, and three shoutouts. In the month of November alone, Wallstedt has put up a 0.99 goals allowed average and a .970 save percentage. Some of his wins arrived against teams in the playoff picture like the Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks, and New York Islanders.
If Wallstedt continues to keep up at this pace, the Bruins better hope that they don't draw him.
Jan. 20 at Dallas Stars
The Bruins are set to play one of the top teams in the league for the first time this season in mid January. That team is the Dallas Stars.
The Stars currently rank second in hockey in terms of team points with 32 (14-5-4). The only team that has played better than them are the Colorado Avalanche, who have 37 points through 22 games (16-1-5). They are also one of the top scoring teams in hockey, as they average 3.39 goals per game, ranking fifth in hockey. The Stars have seen a ton of production from Jason Robertson, Mikko Rantanen, and Wyatt Johnston.
The Stars are also sound defensively, as they allow just 2.74 goals per game, which is the eighth-lowest average in hockey.
Dallas is going to be in the playoff picture for the majority of this season, barring a collapse. Given how well they've played this season, the Bruins need to be careful facing the Stars, because it could get ugly.
Jan. 22 vs. Vegas Golden Knights
The Bruins already played the Vegas Golden Knights earlier in the year. On Oct. 16, the Golden Knights defeated the Bruins 6-5. The Bruins trailed 6-3 with a little over two minutes remaining in regulation before scoring two goals to make things interesting, but it was too little, too late.
Sure, the Golden Knights aren't on the same level as the Avalanche or Stars this season, but they have the star power that makes them truly dangerous. The Golden Knights got a taste of that during their early season matchup, as William Karlsson scored two goals, Mark Stone dished out three assists, Jack Eichel scored a goal, and Mitch Marner notched two assists.
The Golden Knights don't really have the goaltending as of this moment to really be a true threat. But there is still so much time before their Jan. 22 matchup. Given the talent on that roster, the Golden Knights are going to be a tough challenge for the Bruins. Oh, and this does come two days after they play the Stars. That's not a fun two-game stretch for Boston.