The Bruins woke up on Wednesday morning, turning the calendar to April with a six-point lead in the wild-card standings over the Columbus Blue Jackets. They closed out their stellar March, where they finished 10-3-3, by handling the Dallas Stars by a score of 6-3.
A hat trick from Viktor Arvidsson and the game-winner from unlikely hero Henri Jokiharju proved to be the difference on Tuesday Night. This puts a cap on a four-game stretch that could have made or broken Boston’s playoff chances. The Bruins finished 4-0-0, all but cementing their spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It is not so much the manner in which the Bruins got these four wins, and believe me, there was a little bit of everything. Multi-goal comebacks, decisive victories, overtime and shoot-out wins, etc., all made an appearance in this win streak. The biggest piece that goes under the radar is who exactly they got these wins against. Starting with Buffalo, the NHL’s sweetheart story, since firing their GM, it seemed that this team was unstoppable. Since the firing, they are 31-7-4.
Next came the Minnesota Wild, a team with multiple all-world caliber players like Quinn Hughes, Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Brock Faber, to name a few. Since acquiring Quinn Hughes, it feels like the Wild were anointed Stanley Cup juggernauts. Boston was relentless against them, and it never felt close. Then the very next afternoon, the black and gold had to travel to Columbus, a team directly behind them in the playoff hunt.
Another team that, since firing their head coach, had looked like world beaters, posting a record of 19-3-4. The Bruins weathered the onslaught early in the game and came back to win in a shootout. Finally, Tuesday Night, another top team in the Central Division came to town, the Dallas Stars.
The Stars have been the class of the Western Conference for what feels like the better part of a decade, still chasing the elusive Stanley Cup win, but consistently at the top of the table and making deep runs in the postseason. Boston, again, handled their business and cruised to a relatively stress-free victory.
Why does it feel so unnoticed around the league?
With under ten games to go in the regular season, the look-ahead to the playoffs begins, possible matchups, who is getting hot at the right time, and the Presidents' Trophy winner all seem to be the normal storylines this time of year.
In 2026, it seems that none of the usual topics are being discussed. Stories that seem to crowd the mainstream media in the NHL have nothing to do with the actual play of some of the league’s best teams. Since what feels like Christmas, Dallas and Minnesota have been on a collision course for a first-round matchup. This has created some discussion about the NHL’s playoff format, spurring narratives such as “a top 5 team in the league will be going home after the first round”. All of that may be fair.
Minnesota and Dallas are two great teams that could make a run to be the team representing the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Final. However, the Bruins welcomed both these teams in less than 7 days and beat them by a combined 12-4(!). Maybe teams around the league took notice of the results from Boston, but the storylines around the league hardly reflect this feat.
The basement-dwelling Toronto Maple Leafs firing their GM with less than 10 games to go in the season and former Bruins bench boss, Bruce Cassidy, being relieved by the Vegas Golden Knights, are all that it seems anyone can talk about.
I can understand the reality of the NHL not having many storylines this time of year; however, in discussions about teams playing the best heading into the playoffs, I do not know how Boston isn’t the lead topic in the discussion. Even taking the local bias out of it, a team like the Montreal Canadiens, a team that, like the Bruins, can’t seem to lose (7-1-3 in their last 10 and currently on a 4-game winning streak). Still, nobody is talking about them.
When all is said and done in the 2025-2026 regular season and the playoffs finally begin, there will be teams like the Bruins who have been quietly playing extremely well and may “sneak up on” some teams in the first round.
The Bruins have been catapulted to some of their best hockey of the season through the play of Jeremy Swayman and the dominance of the line combination of Pavel Zacha, Casey Mittelstadt, and Viktor Arvidsson. Yet Jeremy Swayman is hardly on the fringe of a Vezina nomination, and I think Pavel Zacha should have more chatter regarding the Selke Trophy, as the league’s best defensive forward.
Boston travels to Florida on Thursday to meet the defending Stanley Cup Champion, the Florida Panthers, another opportunity to plant their flag in the ground as a top team in the Eastern Conference.