Breaking down the brutal reality of the Bruins’ division

Stop me if you've heard this before this season, but the Boston Bruins are one of the hottest teams in hockey. If Boston had played just .500 hockey outside of their hot streaks this season, they'd be one of the top teams in the league. However, streaky play has been the most disappointing factor of the 2025-26 season. A close second is the success of the rest of the Atlantic Division.

If you had told a Bruins fan at the start of the season that the team would be 28-19-2 in their first 49 games, they would've believed that the Bruins were back at their rightful place near the top of the division. However, the success of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Detroit Red Wings, and Montreal Canadiens has the Bruins clawing for a wild card spot.

The Bruins have won eight of their last nine games and are on a six-game winning streak. They weren't far out of contention when this stretch started, which means they should've made up a ton of ground in the playoff race. However, the rest of the division has been red hot as well, which leaves the Bruins still in a battle with the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs for the two wild card spots.

The Marc Savard slander in the first half of Nick Alberga's post on X won't be tolerated, but his stat in the second half is mind-numbing for the Bruins and their fans. Boston has the fifth-best record in the NHL since December 23, but the four teams ahead of them are all in the Atlantic Division. The top two teams are the ones they are battling with for the wild card. The Bruins have actually lost ground in the wild card race over that span despite earning 17 points in 12 games.

The Bruins were once the class of the Atlantic with the Lightning and Maple Leafs. It was a top-heavy division seen as one of the best in hockey, but the bottom-feeders like the Ottawa Senators, Sabres, and Canadiens didn't exactly challenge the top. It wasn't until the Florida Panthers became great that a fourth team emerged to challenge for playoff spots in the division.

The scary part for the Bruins is that one of the teams not on the list of the best is the Panthers. They have been battling injuries all season, but if everyone gets healthy at the right time, Florida will undoubtedly make their presence known in the postseason race. The Senators are also some good goaltending away from going on a run in the season's second half.

It isn't going to get any easier for the Bruins. The Sabres, Canadiens, Senators, and Red Wings have relatively young cores that will challenge for a long time. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs, Lightning, and Panthers aren't ready to take a step back. There's a strong chance that the division will get stronger through the rest of the 2020s.