They cannot win them all, but the Bruins overlooked last night’s opponent and suffered a 2-1 loss to open their four-game road trip.
The Bruins allowed two goals on the Panthers’ first five shots, scored one near the end of the first period, but could not catch the Florida lead. Both goalies showed up, with Jeremy Swayman stopping the final 19 Panthers shots, and Sergei Bobrovsky making 15 third-period saves.
Around the league, the Bruins did not get much help. At the same time, the Bruins are sitting comfortably in the first wild card spot, four points behind the Canadiens, who won yesterday, and six points ahead of the Senators, Red Wings, and Blue Jackets.
The Maple Leafs and Rangers have been bounced from playoff contention, while the Hurricanes and Wild clinched their spot. The Canucks will finish with the worst record in the NHL.
There were 14 games yesterday, only two today. The Bruins have both minor league affiliates and some prospects in action tonight.
Also, the Hobey Baker Finalists were announced yesterday.
Happy Friday, catch up on Bruins and league news in today’s Daily Bean:
Boston Bruins
BRUINS LOSE: The Boston Bruins (43-24-8) fell 2-1 to the Florida Panthers (36-35-3) at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL, on Thursday night. Fraser Minten scored with 26.7 seconds left in the first period, but the Panthers’ two goals in the first eight minutes was the difference.
BREAK APART: Marco Sturm said that the Bruins “didn’t respect” the Panthers last night, overlooked their injuries, and ended up playing from behind. They snapped both a four-game win streak and a seven-game road point streak. It was the Bruins’ first regulation road loss since March 5.
TD GARDEN APP: The Bruins announced an update to the TD Garden app today. Check it out for a one-stop shop for everything Bruins + TD Garden, including live game updates, news, tickers, parking passes, a mobile wallet, the ProShop, and Behind the B, all in the app.
Download (or update) the app for a chance to win tickets to the Bruins’ final home game of the season on April 14.
If you already have the TD Garden app, simply update the app.
In other Bruins’ news, Frank Seravalli listed assistant GM Evan Gold as a candidate for the Predators’ GM job.
Frank Seravalli: Re Predators GM search: The list of candidates has been pretty varied; Brett Peterson; Evan Gold; Ryan Getzlaf, Brendan Shanahan, Rob Blake, Marc Bergevin; Scott White; I could go on and on – Canucks Central (3/30)
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) April 3, 2026
Prospects Update
More Quinnipiac news! If you missed yesterday, Elliott Groenewold is staying at Quinnipiac next year. So is Chris Pelosi.
Both minor league teams are in action tonight, as well as the end of the USHL regular season and the QMJHL playoffs:
AHL: Providence vs. Syracuse – 7:00 PM, Upstate Medical University Arena, Syracuse, NY
ECHL: Maine vs. Trois-Rivières – 7:00 PM, Colisée Vidéotron, Trois-Rivières, QC
QMJHL: Shawinigan (1) vs. Sherbrooke – 7:00 PM, Centre Gervais Auto, Shawinigan, QC (game five, series tied 2-2)
USHL: Youngstown (1) vs. Cedar Rapids – 8:05 PM, ImOn Ice Arena, Cedar Rapids, IA
NHL News & National Hockey Now
Florida Hockey Now: For the other side of coverage from last night’s game, check out FHN’s game recap. The Bruins had an opportunity to knock the Panthers out of the playoff picture last night, but did not. They survive another day.
Montreal Hockey Now: Seven straight wins for the Montreal Canadiens. Last night, they beat the Rangers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden, and it put them four points ahead of the Bruins in the Atlantic Division. Marc Dumont has more from the Canadiens win.
The Rangers have been eliminated from the playoffs.
Detroit Hockey Now: The Red Wings needed a win. They got one last night in Philadelphia. Alex DeBrincat scored twice, and Patrick Kane scored goal No. 506 of his NHL career. The Wings are six points behind the Bruins, and they sit just outside of the playoff picture.
Ottawa Hockey Now: The Senators picked up a big win, and much like Detroit, a needed one. After losing 6-3 to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, the Senators bounced back with a 4-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres. They lost Tyler Kleven in the first period with an injury.
Carolina Hockey Now: The Carolina Hurricanes are the first team in the Eastern Conference to book their ticket to the Stanley Cup playoffs. They beat the brakes off the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-1, helped by a two-goal night from Logan Stankoven.
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins could not handle the Tampa Bay Lightning last night, losing to them 6-3 at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, FL. Dan Kingerski was in Florida and has the locker room reaction from the Penguins’ end.
If the playoffs started today, the Bruins’ round one opponent would be the Lightning. They play them on Saturday and again the following Saturday.
STANDINGS (playoff odds per MoneyPuck):
Atlantic:
Lightning – 100 points, 7 games remaining, 100% odds
Sabres – 100 points, 6 games remaining, 100% odds
Canadiens – 98 points, 7 games remaining, 99.98% odds
Metropolitan:
x – Hurricanes – 100 points, 7 games remaining, clinched
Penguins – 92 points, 6 games remaining, 94.3% odds
Islanders – 89 points, 6 games remaining, 61.8% odds
Wild Card:
Bruins – 94 points, 6 games remaining, 95.7% odds
Senators – 88 points, 7 games remaining, 53.5% odds
Red Wings – 88 points, 7 games remaining, 38.5% odds
Blue Jackets – 88 points, 6 games remaining, 33.6% odds
Flyers – 86 points, 7 games remaining, 14.3% odds
Braylon Breeze via 𝕏: Clear the calendar for the weekend of April 18-19.
Per ESPN’s and TNT’s advanced schedules, here’s the opening weekend schedule for the Stanley Cup Playoffs:
Saturday, April 18th:
2:00 p.m ET (ESPN)
5:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)
8:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Sunday, April 19th:
1:00p ET (TNT)
4:00p ET (TNT)
7:00p ET (ESPN)
9:30p ET (ESPN)
— Braylon Breeze (@Braylon_Breeze) April 2, 2026
Daily Faceoff: Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild clinched a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, the Canucks clinched the 32nd spot in the NHL. They will select in the top three at the 2026 NHL Draft.
Daily Faceoff: The Maple Leafs were also eliminated from playoff contention last night.
Isles in the Sound: I have mentioned it quite a few times, but the relocation of the Bridgeport Islanders to Hamilton was unanimously approved by the AHL. My friend and former colleague, Kenny Kaminsky, who has been covering the Islanders, reflects on his time growing up going to games and ultimately covering hockey in Bridgeport.
Hobey Baker Award via 𝕏: The three Hobey Baker Finalists were announced yesterday. No, James Hagens is not one of them. TJ Hughes (Michigan, free agent), Max Plante (Minnesota-Duluth, DET), and Eric Pohlkamp (Denver, SJ) were named as the finalists.
Today’s NHL Schedule
Flyers at Islanders – 7:00 PM (US: NHLN, CA: SN)
Blues at Ducks – 10:00 PM (CA: SN)
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