When the Boston Bruins returned him from their three-game road trip last week, they were looking at an important five-game homestand before the holiday break. They were looking to bank come points and remain in a firm postseason spot in the jam-packed Eastern Conference.
It has not gone the way they expected.
After four games, the Bruins are 1-2-1 with just three out of a possible eight points since the homestand started against the Utah Mammoth. They earned a season split with Utah with a 4-1 victory, but since then, they have lost to the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1, the Vancouver Canucks, 5-4 in a shootout, and 6-2 to the Ottawa Senators, which wasn't as close as you might think it was.
Now facing the reality of completely falling apart if they lose to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at the TD Garden, David Pastrnak had a clear message to his teammates following practice on Monday morning at Warrior Ice Arena.
David Pastrnak sends message to teammates ahead of Canadiens showdown
With Montreal in town for their first trip of 2025-26, they are ahead of the Black and Gold in the standings, and if Boston is going to enjoy the holiday break, a win over their heated rivals is a must. Ask David Pastrnak.
Pastrnak said tomorrow’s game against Montreal is the most important game of the season.
— steve conroy (@conroyherald) December 22, 2025
He's not wrong. A loss in regulation, well, a loss in general, would not be good. This is a game where the Bruins must secure two points. Ideally, they would like to do it in regulation, but at this point, beggars can't be choosers. This is, without a doubt, their most important game of the season to date.
If the Bruins are going to have a chance to win the game, they need to fix a lot of areas of their game. Cleaning up their play in the defensive end should be near the top, as well as staying out of the penalty box. Easier said than done. Then there is taking advantage of their scoring chances when they get them. Again, easier said than done for a team not blessed with a lot of goal scorers.
This is a game that two points need to be secured, and another regulation will make for a very long holiday break and an even longer trip that begins on Saturday in Buffalo against the surging Sabres and heads to Western Canada.