Since January 1, the Boston Bruins are 22-7-6, the fifth-best record in the NHL, and now sit comfortably in the first wild-card spot.

They have lost 13 times since the New Year, including on Thursday night against an injured Panthers roster, but they have picked up six loser points in the losses. Six points is the difference between the Bruins and the chasing Senators, Red Wings, and Blue Jackets.

The beginning of the season was riddled with streaky play, whether it was seven straight wins or six straight losses, or into March with a home win streak (13) and a road point streak (7) that have both been ended.

The Bruins have been able to turn the page quickly and bounce back from their losses. They are 10-0-2 after a loss since the New Year and have outscored opponents 41-25.

“I mean, we don’t want to be like that. But yeah, I think overall, every time you’re a little bit harder on them, I feel like they respond better,” Marco Sturm said after the Bruins practiced in Tampa on Friday. “Yesterday again, they have a lot of guys out, and we’ve seen that picture before, I’ve seen it before. We just took a little bit too lightly, I thought. Maybe I’m wrong, but that just can’t happen, especially at this time of year.”

After the Bruins lost in Florida, Marco Sturm said that the Bruins “didn’t respect” their opponent. Florida scored twice in the first eight minutes and won the game 2-1. 

It is the fifth straight loss to a team that is battling for, or out of, the playoff picture (San Jose, WC2 in West). 

They have rebounded by taking down top teams, as they did during their four-game win streak (Buffalo, Minnesota, Columbus, Dallas) that ended on Thursday. 

“The good thing is that, you know, everyone was talking about, and it’s true though, everyone was talking about the schedule, you know, the Bruins have the toughest schedule,” Sturm said on Tuesday. “Yeah, I believe that too. But what I liked about it is we always seems like play better when we are playing against better teams, and for us, the playoffs already started a long time ago. That’s the good thing about our team right now. We want to get challenged right now.”

The team certainly believes they can beat anyone as well, Sturm said on Tuesday. 

“I do believe so. I think that, really, guys are believing [in] themselves, and they know we are a good, solid team when we are on top of it. The belief system is there right now. And that’s why, you know, tie game after the second period against the Dallas Stars, we didn’t even, we didn’t flank. We played, because we knew we will win this hockey game.”

Before Thursday, the Bruins’ last regulation loss came to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have now been eliminated from playoff contention. Casey Mittelstadt said the loss to Toronto was “one of our worst games of the year.”

The Bruins responded with a come-from-behind win in Buffalo the next night. 

They fell to the Canadiens on St. Patrick’s Day, and responded with a six-pack of goals on the Winnipeg Jets two days later.

The next loss to overcome will be against the Tampa Bay Lightning (47-22-6), who sit atop the Atlantic Division with 100 points, on Saturday at 5:00 PM.

Playoffs are a 95.7% chance, and the magic number is eight. Four wins, or eight points, will guarantee the Bruins a better finish than the ninth-place Red Wings, even if Detroit wins out.

There are six games left in the 2025-26 regular season, only one (New Jersey, April 14) is against a team that is not fighting for a playoff spot. 

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