The Boston Bruins last won the Stanley Cup in 2011, then made an appearance in the playoffs twice ever since, only to be knocked out prematurely. With new Interim Coach Sacco, they still stand a chance for this season's playoffs...or do they? The boys are currently claiming the 6th playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. Since the playoffs claim only the top 3 teams per division, this leaves our boys vying for one of the Eastern Conference wild-card spots.
The end of the NHL regular season's 82 games is rapidly approaching. As hockey season is nearing its final months, fans are wondering who will make it into the playoffs. Do the Bruins even stand a chance? Here are two reasons why the Bruins make the playoffs, and one reason they don't.
2 reasons the Boston Bruins will make the Stanley Cup playoffs
1. Noteworthy players: Brad Marchand once again leads the pack not only as the Bruins' captain, but he currently is 5th on the Bruins' list of all-time point leaders and comes in 2nd in all-time game-winning goals for the B's, falling behind legendary Johnny Bucyk. Marchy also just took home the W representing Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off. He continues to break his own franchise record and is currently at 12 consecutive 20-goal seasons.
Then there is currently a four-way tie between Marchand, Pastrnak, Zacha, and Elias Lindholm, with each acquiring 57 game points this season alone. All four players currently average between 18-20 minutes of time on ice per game. Keeping these point collectors on ice gives the Bruins more of a chance to move up the rankings. Pasta just hit a 14-game point streak against the Ducks on Saturday, not to mention is also one of the highest goal scorers for the B's.
Ahead of Saturday night's game vs. the Ducks, Coach Sacco said, “It’s just about the group sticking together and really trying to elevate or just take on a little bit more responsibility. When you have Carlo and Zadorov, two veteran guys, you’re going to lean on those guys a little bit more in those situations. We need a collective effort from everybody, not just our D…our forwards, too. We all have to be able to raise our level here now. We need to raise it anyway now because of the last 25 games."
2. D-line improvements: Two of the Bruins' newly acquired additions represent the black and gold in the top 5 leading penalty box minutes of the entire organization. Nikita Zadorov and Mark Kastelic have a combined total of 203 minutes so far this season, although Kasty is a forward. Zadorov takes the top spot, beating Senators' Brady Tkachuk. Kastelic claims spot #4. Even the newest of Boston fans would be oblivious to not notice the way this line has stepped up for the 2024-25 season. In the past few seasons, we've had to witness many other teams picking on then Alternate Captain Marchand, knowing that if he fights back, he may be penalized for the slightest inconvenience. This is a burden that has followed him since the 2021 slew-footing incident.
The presence of newcomers Zadorov, Wotherspoon, and Kastelic quickly put an end to the harassment of our Captain and some of our younger players. The mere presence of any of these towering warriors on the ice causes our opponents to second-guess their own intentions. Also prior to the game this past Saturday, Zadorov said, "I’m ready whenever they need me, it’s exciting. A new challenge for sure,” said Zadorov. “Somebody on the back end’s gotta step up and fill those minutes, fill those roles. We have no time to get going, we have to be ready right away. We’ve got 25 games left, there are a lot of teams fighting for playoff positioning in our division and conference. Every game is a playoff game for us.”
1 reason the Bruins will not make the Stanley Cup playoffs
One of the major roadblocks which would put the boys out of the playoffs this season is simply their puck handling skills. The Bruins have been notorious this season for running plays and trying to allow each other the opportunity to score, or to complete hat tricks. However, this allows a hole in their offense, which has given other teams ample scoring opportunities which were successfully used against us.
Any opposing team watching video playback can easily spot the holes in our offense. Defense has stepped up largely this season, but it takes both the O-line and the D-line to win a game. With us focusing more on getting the 'perfect shot', we inadvertently end up waiting too long and the puck is snagged away from us. It is hard to count how many times, had the B's just taken a shot, the puck could have landed in the net or at least would have remained within our possession. The Bruins can be their own worst enemy sometimes.
Zadorov said it best. Twenty-four games remain in the regular season. With the playoff deadline encroaching, each game is most definitely a playoff game. Can the boys pull off another appearance and be contenders in the Stanley Cup playoffs this season? Stay tuned, Spoked B-Nation!