The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs are set in the Eastern Conference, and one matchup is the Boston Bruins taking on the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo is back in the playoffs after a 14-year drought. Meanwhile, after a year off, the Bruins are back in the playoffs. This matchup was set after the Bruins 4-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
Boston has been a real surprise this season. Nobody 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. Though Hagens just got into the lineup after playing at Boston College.
But it was the play of Pavel Zacha (career season), Morgan Geekie (career season with 39 goals), Casey Mittelstadt stepping up, Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, David Pastrnak, and, of course, having Jeremy Swayman in training camp to begin the season helps. There were others, like Fraser Minten, having career seasons as well.
First-year head coach Marco Sturm got this Boston Bruins team playing the right way. It took time, but the players are coming together. Sturm had a track record, given what he did with Team Germany at the 2018 Winter Olympics, guiding them to the Gold Medal Game, where they lost to Russia.
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The Bruins have playoff experience, and that matters. 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 stated the Boston Bruins are a team he believes in the most that could cause damage in the playoffs.
NHLRumors.com transcription
Host: “But what when it’s to some other teams that are on the bubble here in the National Hockey League, like of those on the outside looking in, the Ottawa Senators, the Detroit Red Wings, the Columbus Blue Jackets teams like that right? Who do you believe in the most out of that grouping if the playoffs started tomorrow?”
Jim Biringer: “I mean, this might be taboo in this city, especially in Montreal, but how can you not believe in what the Boston Bruins are doing right now? I mean, overachieving? Yes. Probably shouldn’t be in a playoff position because they’re retooling. They have a goaltender that can win the games in Jeremy Swayman. David Pasternak is one of the best players in the National Hockey League.
But the Boston Bruins, to me the depth, the quality, what Don Sweeney didn’t do. Okay? Pavel Zacha is playing well again. A lot of guys are having career seasons. So it’s got to carry over next year as well. But to me, Boston, they’re just a tough out boys, and we’ve seen when no one expects them to be in the playoffs, they get to a second round, they play a really tough style of game. They’re a team that can cause some damage when the playoffs start.”
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Everything is coming together for the Boston Bruins heading into the playoffs. Certain places in Canada, like Toronto, don’t want to hear that. However, what Sweeney did to turn this around quickly was remarkable.
The Boston Bruins have a good chance of pulling an upset in Round 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Buffalo Sabres.
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