{"id":534831,"date":"2026-04-01T14:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T14:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/534831\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T14:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T14:38:23","slug":"with-playoffs-within-their-grasp-bruins-are-peaking-at-perfect-time-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/534831\/","title":{"rendered":"With playoffs within their grasp, Bruins are peaking at perfect time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBoston Bruins\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t“For us, the playoffs already started a long time ago.”<\/p>\n

\"Boston
\n\tThe Bruins won their fourth-straight game on Tuesday against Dallas. (AP Photo\/Charles Krupa)\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Conor Ryan<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApril 1, 2026 | 7:56 AM\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

4 minutes to read<\/p>\n

Marco Sturm and the Bruins<\/a> have not officially punched their tickets to the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u200bSeven more bouts remain on Boston\u2019s 82-game regular season slate. They\u2019ll need to bank a few more points before they can catch their breath amid a grueling sprint to the finish line.<\/p>\n

As such, it came as little surprise that Boston\u2019s bench boss didn\u2019t want to look ahead to the postseason on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

But not for the reason one might expect.<\/p>\n

For Sturm and his club, the playoffs don\u2019t begin on April 18. Rather, they\u2019ve been embroiled in high-stakes hockey for weeks now.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, the playoffs already started a long time ago,\u201d Sturm said after Boston\u2019s 6-3 win over Dallas on Tuesday. \u201cI think that\u2019s a good thing about our team right now \u2014 we want to get challenged right now against really good hockey teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

That Bruins\u2019 battle-tested mettle is starting to reveal itself.<\/p>\n

For all of the talk of the perilous road that Boston was forced to trudge through in the closing weeks of the season, Sturm\u2019s team is plowing a path toward postseason hockey in short order.<\/p>\n

On March 21, the Bruins ran the risk of having their playoff odds dip to nearly a 50\/50 coin flip had they lost to the Detroit Red Wings on the road.<\/a><\/p>\n

Instead, a stout showing from Jeremy Swayman in net helped Boston secure a 4-2 win at Little Caesars Arena \u2014 bolstering the club\u2019s playoff hopes to over 70 percent.<\/p>\n

After Tuesday\u2019s win over one of the top teams in the league in Dallas, Boston now has a 98 percent chance of playing postseason hockey \u2014 according to HockeyStats<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That surge is rooted in the warpath that the Bruins have waged against several contending clubs over the past week.<\/p>\n

\u200bA deflating home loss to a woeful Toronto team on March 24 took some of the wind out of Boston\u2019s sails, due in large part to the \u201cMurderers\u2019 Row\u201d that awaited the Bruins<\/a> over the next week.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201dEveryone was talking about the schedule,\u201d Sturm said. \u201cYou know, the Bruins have the toughest schedule. Yeah, I believe that, too. \u00a0But what I liked about it is it always seems like we play better when we\u2019re playing against better teams.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to argue with Sturm\u2019s sentiment.<\/p>\n

In the span of just six days, the Bruins collected eight out of a possible eight points against some of the hottest teams in the league \u2014 beating the Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Dallas Stars.<\/p>\n

Two of those victories on the road against Buffalo and Columbus were belief-building comebacks secured in overtime<\/a> and the shootout<\/a>, respectively.<\/p>\n

On home ice, Boston controlled play for extended stretches against a pair of Western Conference titans in the Wild and Stars.<\/p>\n

Dallas had few answers for Sturm and the Bruins\u2019 bruising approach on Tuesday. A high-octane Stars roster was limited to just 16 total shots on goal at TD Garden, including three over the final 20 minutes of play. <\/p>\n

Any hope of a rally from Glen Gulutzan\u2019s roster was snuffed out with every green-and-white puck carrier that was stapled into the glass via a thunderous hit. <\/p>\n

\u200bEntering the third period stuck in a 2-2 deadlock, Elias Lindholm gave Boston the lead just 13 seconds into the frame with a power-play goal, while Henri Jokiharju\u2019s first goal donning the spoked-B at 5:51 served as the game-winning tally.<\/p>\n

Viktor Arvidsson \u2014 now up to 22 points in his last 18 games since the NHL returned from the Olympic break \u2014 added a pair of empty-net goals to secure his fifth career hat trick.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cI think we have fun together, and we put a lot of emphasis on being hard on each other, really pushing each other,\u201d Arvidsson said of Boston\u2019s strong play down the stretch. \u201cI think in that regard, we\u2019re really happy where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s results across the NHL benefited Boston beyond its own fourth-straight statement victory. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The four teams below Boston in the race for a wild-card spot \u2014 the Blue Jackets, Senators, Flyers, and Red Wings \u2014 all lost on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Boston now has a six-point cushion over Columbus in the first wild-card spot in the East<\/a> \u2014 and an eight-point lead over clubs below the postseason cut-off line.<\/p>\n

But the Bruins are focusing more on their own game at this point as they try to carry this momentum into an extended four-game road trip against the Panthers, Lightning, Flyers, and Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

\u200bSo far, there\u2019s a lot to like as the playoffs approach. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u200bAnd as teams begin to brace themselves for first-round bouts in the coming weeks, few clubs across the Eastern Conference are looking forward to a meeting with this Bruins crew \u2014 a group not lacking in confidence as their collective belief continues to boil over.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201dI do believe so,\u201d Sturm said when asked if Boston can beat anyone at this stage of the season. \u201cI don\u2019t know when it started, but the Minny game, even the Columbus game, the Detroit game, those were big, big games. Different, but they were all big. And we won.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that really \u2013 guys are believing in themselves, and they know we\u2019re a good, solid team when we\u2019re on top of it. So yeah, the belief is there right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Profile\t<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the Today newsletter<\/p>\n

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