The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs are set for the Eastern Conference, and one matchup is the Boston Bruins taking on the Buffalo Sabres. Bison are back in the finals after a 14-year drought. Meanwhile, after a year out, the Bruins are back in the playoffs. This game was played after the Bruins’ 4-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
Boston has been a real surprise this season. No one expected them, along with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, to make the playoffs. GM Don Sweeney filled some holes with veterans like Viktor Arvidsson and Lukas Reichel. He also drafted James Hagens in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft. Although Hagens recently entered the roster after playing at Boston College.
But it was the performance of Pavel Zacha (career season), Morgan Geekie (career season with 39 goals), Casey Mittelstadt on the rise, Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, David Pastrnak, and, of course, having Jeremy Swayman in training camp to start the season helps. There were others, like Fraser Minten, who had careers as well.
First-year coach Marco Sturm has found this Boston Bruins team playing the right way. It took time, but the players are coming together. Sturm had a great record, given what he did with Team Germany at the 2018 Winter Olympics, leading to the Gold Medal Game, where they lost to Russia.
NHL Injuries: Ducks, Stars, Islanders, Senators, Lightning, Mammoths, and Canucks
The Bruins have playoff experience, and that’s important. When asked during an appearance on TSN Radio in Montreal at the end of March, Jim Biringer of NHL Rumors.com and Full Press Media said the Boston Bruins are the team he strongly believes can cause damage in the playoffs.
NHLRumors.com registration
Announcer: “But what about other teams that play in the National Hockey League, such as those outside watching, the Ottawa Senators, the Detroit Red Wings, the Columbus Blue Jackets teams, right?
Jim Biringer: “I mean, this might be inappropriate in this city, especially in Montreal, but how can you not believe in what the Boston Bruins are doing right now? I mean, overachieving? Yeah. Maybe it shouldn’t be in the playoffs because they’re rebuilding. They have a goaltender that can win games in Jeremy Swayman is National Hockey League player David Pasternak.
But the Boston Bruins, to me the depth, the quality, what Don Sweeney didn’t do. OK? Pavel Zacha is playing well too. Most guys have career periods. So it should continue next year as well. But for me, Boston, they are tough guys, and we saw when nobody expected them to be in the playoffs, they got to the second round, they played a really tough style of game. They are a team that can wreak havoc when the playoffs begin.”
NHL rumors: The latest from Nashville, Toronto, and New Jersey
Everything is coming together for the Boston Bruins heading to the playoffs. Some places in Canada, like Toronto, don’t want to hear that. However, what Sweeney did to change this quickly was remarkable.
The Boston Bruins have a good chance to pull through in Round 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Buffalo Sabres.
We had to restart our X account. Please follow @MyNHLRumorsX
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Rumors and hot topics from around the league. We also post some stuff on Instagram.
If you like our reporting, choose NHLrumors.com as a favorite source on Google.
