Playoffs look inevitable for Bruins, who are already preparing for them

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Playoffs look inevitable for Bruins, who are already preparing for them

Matt Vautour · MassLive

Thu, Apr 2, 2026 ·

3 min read

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BOSTON — The first task isn’t complete just yet, but the Bruins have begun preparing for the next one.

They aren’t in the playoffs yet, but they’re preparing for when it happens.

Tuesday night was a critical night for the Bruins , who are in the No. 1 wild card position in the Eastern Conference. They came into their game against Dallas with a four-point lead over the No. 2 Blue Jackets and a six-point edge over the three teams just outside the playoffs.

If the Bruins had lost to a very good Stars team, they could have started their four-game road trip locked into a pretty close race.

But not only did they win, but the four teams behind them all lost. It left the Bruins with a lead that might be big enough to secure them a playoff berth at this late point in the season.

The Athletic’s playoff projection model has Boston at 96 percent to make the playoffs. Money Puck’s projections has the Bruins’ chances at 97.7.

Barring an epic collapse, when the regular season ends in just over three weeks, the Bruins will likely be in the playoffs.

Nothing mimics postseason hockey, but since the Olympics, they’ve played a lot of important games against good teams. Boston came out of the February break with the statistically toughest schedule of any team in the NHL and the most remaining games on the road, a place where they’d struggled to that point.

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They began approaching the remaining stretch like their own playoffs. After missing the postseason last year, they needed to thrive if they wanted to make that a one-year absence.

Since then they’ve gone 13-4-3, putting them in prime position with seven games left.

“For us, the playoffs started a long time ago. We want a good challenge right now against really good hockey teams,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. “That kept us in that race against really good teams. Right now we’re already in it. It’s already started.”

Sturm thought that playing so many tough opponents actually helped his team. They’ve won five straight games against teams that are either currently in or within two points of a playoff spot.

“The good thing is, everyone was talking about ‘the Bruins have the toughest schedule,’” Sturm said. “We always seemed to play better when we play against better teams.”

The biggest improvement is on the road. After starting the year 11-14-4 away from TD Garden, the Bruins have earned points in their last seven road games at 4-0-3.

“Guys are believing. They know we’re a good solid team,” Sturm said. “The belief system is there right now. In a tie game after the second period against the Dallas Stars , we played like we knew we would win this hockey game. That’s where we are at right now. We had to work for it. We don’t want to lose it going on the road. Hopefully we can come back happy.”

After playing the struggling Panthers on Thursday, they’ll face Tampa Bay, a potential first-round playoff opponent on Saturday. After a game at Philadelphia , which is battling for a postseason spot on Sunday, they’ll finish on Tuesday at Carolina, another possible playoff foe.

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