BOSTON — Four days ago, the Bruins had mustered up some hope.
Interim coach Joe Sacco had challenged his group to approach the last four games before the two-week break for the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off like playoff games.
Play well and they could go into the time off feeling energized and optimistic. That was all going according to plan with back-to-back victories featuring strong performances against the Rangers and Wild.
David Pastrnak was sizzling. Jeremy Swayman was playing well. They still had a tough climb ahead of them, but the Bruins seemed eager to take it on.
Two losses later — both of which featured blown leads — and that optimistic energy seems to have evaporated. The Bruins limped into the break. When they return, they’ll have an extremely challenging path just to have a chance to make the playoffs.
“Prepare yourself for the last 25 games. It’s do or die for us,” Nikita Zadorov said. “We wasted the last two games, four points. It could cost us. It could not. We’ll see. There’s no quit in this room.”
Brad Marchand, who is one of four Bruins playing in the 4 Nations tournament thought the break could be beneficial.
“It’s a good time to reset. Guys look forward to the break, getting away for a little bit, resetting. I think it’s good for the group,” he said. “We have to come back with the right mindset. We have to make sure we come back, work hard, get back in shape. We have to play do-or-die hockey the rest of the year here.”
The Bruins are 27-24-6. Their 60 points leaves them just outside the wild card, but they’ve played more games than everyone else in wild-card contention.
There are 25 games left in the regular season and just seven until the March 7 trade deadline. That means they have at most seven games to convince general manager Don Sweeney not to start rebuilding by selling now.
Over the last eight seasons, not counting the COVID season of 2019-20, the average point total for the last playoff team in the Eastern Conference has been 95.9. Nobody has gotten in with fewer than 91 over that stretch.
To this point, the Bruins have 60 points in 57 games, which is a .526-points percentage. To get to 91 points they’d have to play at .620. To get to 96, they’d have to play at .720. That would be a giant step up from what they’ve been.
Wild Card standings
………………….GP—W-L-OT—Pts
Ottawa………..56—29-23-4—62
Detroit………..55—28-22-5—61
Columbus…….56—26-22-8—60
Boston………..57—27-24-6—60
NY Rangers…..55—27-24-4—58
NY Islanders…55—25-23-7—57
Montreal………57—25-25-5—55
The Athletic uses a constantly updating computer simulator to determine the likelihood of a team making the playoffs and winning the Stanley Cup. After Saturday’s loss, they had the Bruins’ postseason chances at just 28 percent.
Making matters worse, the Bruins, who are 9-15-3 on the road, play 14 of their final 25 games in March and April away from Boston to end the season.
Pastrnak said they need to embrace and even enjoy the challenge.
“We should be excited to play. Every point matters. These kind of games are why we play hockey,” he said. I always try to look at the positive things. That’s how I see it. It’s fun to play games that matter.”
Swayman took the same approach.
“Every point matters. It’s a fight for playoffs. It’s an incredible position to be in. It’s something we can really build on and really around,” he said. “I couldn’t be more excited. I know it’s going to be an incredible experience.”
