To say that the Boston Bruins have a game on Saturday night that could go a long way toward determining their playoff fate next month would be an understatement. That's right, the Boston Bruins, in 2025-26, have a game in late March that could determine whether they are going to remain in the hunt for a postseason berth or have their odds take a huge hit.
Boston and the Detroit Red Wings will meet at Little Caesars Arena, tied for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots. According to MoneyPuck.com, there is a 20-point swing percentage points-wise depending on tonight's result. Yeah, I'd say it's a rather big game.
20 percentage point swings in playoff chances for both the Bruins and Red Wings tonight https://t.co/vllefbFpKg pic.twitter.com/TIk4N6RfjZ
— MoneyPuck.com (@MoneyPuckdotcom) March 21, 2026
Coming off a 6-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night at the TD Garden and an off-day on Friday, head coach Marco Sturm is running out the same lineup he did two nights ago, including between the pipes.
Bruins to start Jeremy Swayman against Red Wings
This is a big game, and Sturm is riding the hot hand of Jeremy Swayman in goal for the third straight game. Now, as you can see from the tweet above, a lot is riding on this game tonight. Sturm is excited for the opportunity his team has.
“They’re a good team. It showed in the standings, it showed in our pre-scout, it showed every time we played against them. It is always very tight games,” Sturm said. “I expect that again tonight. Very good structured team with good special teams. The details will matter tonight.”
Oh, good, the details will matter. If there has been one thing that the Bruins haven't been good at lately in games, it's the details. Too many turnovers and poor puck possession have doomed them in games recently.
Let's not overlook the fact that this is a road game for the Bruins, something that hasn't been too kind to them this season. Neither has Little Caesars Arena. Somehow, someway, points are needed tonight, whether it's one or two.