The Boston Bruins have 20 games remaining in the 2025-26 regular season. To the surprise of many, they are holding down the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot, three points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
There is a lot of time left for both teams, along with the Ottawa Senators, to see who gets the final Eastern Conference berth. Boston and Columbus have two head-to-head meetings remaining, in Columbus, which will likely decide who gets the final berth.
If the Bruins continue to give away games as they did to the shorthanded Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday afternoon, then it will be that much more difficult for them to get into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Adam Gretz of Bleacher Report predicted the playoff matchups with 20 or so games remaining, and he has the Bruins in the eight-team field in the East.
Bleacher Report predicted Bruins to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs
Gretz predicted that the Bruins will make the playoffs and bet matched as the second wild card against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Here is what he wrote,
"In the end, points are extremely hard to make up this late in the season, and being in a playoff spot right now with anything more than a two-point cushion is significant. The fact that Columbus has gone on the run that it has and is still outside of a playoff position could be problematic for the Blue Jackets. Ultimately, this has more to do with me thinking Columbus will cool off at some point over the next month than anything else,'' Gretz wrote.
However, Gretz made a great point. Boston has looked like a team that could go on a big winning streak at times this year, but also one that can go on a long losing streak. If they were somewhere in between, then they would be safely in control of the final playoff berth.
Boston controls its own destiny into the playoffs, but it is going to have to find a way to win on the road if it is going to get there. The two biggest games are going to be in Columbus.