\u201cI was watching [Celebrini] absolutely light it up this year, and I was like, \u2018Oh boy, this is going to be interesting,\u2019\u201d Mittelstadt said. \u201cEveryone has said it, and that\u2019s okay. I love the name, and I\u2019m happy with it. Obviously, she was pretty sold on it for a long time now.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Zacha and Gaby, they narrowed their name choice down to two before Penelope was born.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u201cWe waited until we saw her face, and we right away decided that\u2019s what fits the most,\u201d Zacha said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u200bZacha and Mittelstadt will remember this week forever. They will also likely always remember the 2025-26 season as a whole. After getting put on a line together with Viktor Arvidsson at the start of the year, the trio built chemistry and turned into one of the B\u2019s most productive combinations.<\/p>\n
The second line leads the Bruins with 42 goals scored 5-on-5, and a 65.63 goals-for percentage through 59 games together \u2013 meaning they are consistently outscoring opponents. At the end of the regular season, Arvidsson, Zacha and Mittelstadt were the sixth-best 5-on-5 line in the entire NHL. It has pushed Zacha towards a career year with 65 points and 30 goals. Arvidsson hit the 25-goal mark, and Mittelstadt has 42 points (15 goals, 27 assists).<\/p>\n
Arvidsson has enjoyed watching his linemates become dads. The veteran winger has two daughters, Navy and Jamie. Does Arvidsson have any advice for Zacha and Mittelstadt?<\/p>\n
\u201cTry to get your sleep, and just enjoy it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt goes fast. Mine are already five and three. It\u2019s been really fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Navy, Arvidsson\u2019s oldest daughter, is all-in on the Bruins\u2019 playoff run. She is at the age where she is understanding Arvidsson\u2019s job and the highs and lows of the season, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe just wants us to win the prize, she says,\u201d Arvidsson said. \u201cThe big prize.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n
Arvidsson was close last season. He made it to the Stanley Cup Final with the Edmonton Oilers, where they lost to the Florida Panthers in six games. The 33-year-old played in 15 postseason games with Edmonton and posted seven points (two goals, five assists). Arvidsson\u2019s experience is an asset to the B\u2019s locker room, which has some players making their NHL playoff debuts.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve always got to be ready for everyone, whether you\u2019re in the lineup or out of the lineup, you\u2019ve got to be ready to play. Take care of yourself, be positive and bring energy,\u201d Arvidsson said. \u201cAnd just enjoy, too. You never know when you\u2019re going to be in it again, and you have to make the most of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u200bZacha was last in the playoffs in the 2023-24 campaign with the Bruins; it was the third showing of his career. Mittelstadt made it to the postseason that same year with the Colorado Avalanche, the only time he has competed in spring hockey. Prior to that, Mittelstadt was with the Sabres for seven years. He was Buffalo\u2019s eighth overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. Now, nearly 10 years later, Mittelstadt returns as a difference-maker on the opposing side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI was watching [Celebrini] absolutely light it up this year, and I was like, \u2018Oh boy, this is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5099],"tags":[154,95,5132,530,5,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-555892","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-bruins","8":"tag-boston","9":"tag-boston-bruins","10":"tag-bostonbruins","11":"tag-bruins","12":"tag-hockey","13":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116430652659725159","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}