By: Jack Studley | Follow me on Twitter/X @jackstudley13
The first 13 games of the 2025-26 campaign have come and gone for the Boston Bruins. With a record of 6-7-0, the black and gold are sitting fifth in the Atlantic Division and 12th in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins won three of their last four games to end October and are looking to continue that level of play into the upcoming slate of games.
The Bruins will be busy in November, starting as soon as possible and taking on 14 games from now until the end of the month. Six games will be at the TD Garden, meaning eight are on the road. The Bruins have two trips to Long Island and a few road games in Canada, and the black and gold will venture back to the west, this time for a California trip.
Game 14: vs. Carolina, Nov 1, 1:00 PM EST – NESN
The Boston Bruins get the month underway almost as soon as possible, with a Saturday afternoon showdown against the Carolina Hurricanes to open the fourteen-game November schedule. Coming into this game, the Hurricanes have posted a 7-3-0 record, ranking fifth in the Eastern Conference and ninth in the NHL. Through October, the Hurricanes scored a league-leading 3.90 goals per game. However, they have struggled to find scoring on the man-advantage, sitting dead-last in the league at a 9.7% rate.
Game 15: @ NY Islanders, Nov 4, 7:00 PM EST – NESN
The Bruins will be on Long Island for a second game against the Islanders, one week after the 5-2 win at the TD Garden. The Bruins’ power play connected twice on the four opportunities it had against the Islanders, which aligns with how the Islanders have been playing. They are killing penalties at a 75.0% rate, ranking them 20th in the NHL through the first month. Their power play has not been strong, scoring at a 16.7% rate through their first month. The Islanders ended the month of October with 11 points, which puts them at 13th in the Eastern Conference. Matthew Schaefer has eight points in his first eleven NHL games, and Emil Heineman has started the season with five goals.
Game 16: vs. Ottawa, Nov 6, 7:00 PM EST – NESN
The first of two matchups with the Senators this month will be an excellent opportunity for the Bruins to avenge the 7-2 beatdown they took in Canada’s capital at the end of the month. We did not see Linus Ullmark in the first game because Ottawa was on a back-to-back; this time, the November 6 game will be Ottawa’s first in five days. The Senators will be well-rested going into this game. The Senators will be without captain Brady Tkachuk, who had surgery on October 16 for a broken thumb. Drake Batherson (9-4–13), Tim Stutzle (5-8–13), and Shane Pinto (8-3–11) have stepped up to provide offense for the Senators in Tkachuk’s absence.
Game 17: @ Toronto, Nov 8, 7:00 PM EST – NESN
The Boston Bruins head north of the border and into Toronto for a Hockey Night in Canada showdown. These two teams will only meet three times this season, and two of the meetings are within these three days. The Maple Leafs have found success on home ice, posting a 5-2-1 record through their first eight home games; on the contrary, the Bruins have gone 1-4-0 on the road in October. David Pastrnak has seven goals and ten assists, putting him in fifth across the league and ahead of his buddy William Nylander, who has 3-12–15 through the first month.
Game 18: vs. Toronto, Nov 11, 7:00 PM EST – TNT, HBO Max
Then, these two teams come to Boston. Toronto has a home game on November 9 against Carolina, and the Bruins will use that extra day to travel back home and wait for the Maple Leafs. Toronto has gotten minimal support from its power play, which is sitting 29th in the NHL at 13.8%. However, the Maple Leafs score an average of 3.45 goals per game, putting them in 11th for that category, but they allow an average of 3.82. This game will be nationally televised on TNT, the first of two national broadcast appearances for the Bruins this month.
Game 19: @ Ottawa, Nov 13, 7:00 PM EST – NESN
The Bruins will return to Canada for the second time within a week and to Ottawa for the final time this season. The Senators’ offense has been their strong suit, putting up 3.58 goals per game, ranking in the top ten. They also have a strong powerplay; the man-advantage has found the back of the net 28.9% of the time, and they are drawing the fourth most penalties in the league. However, their penalty kill has struggled, and that is where the Bruins need to pounce on opportunities; Ottawa has only killed penalties at a 62.2% rate this year.
Game 20: @ Montreal, Nov 15, 7:00 PM EST – NESN
On their way home from Ottawa, the black and gold will stop in Montreal and take on their longtime rival. The Canadiens, who crept into the playoffs last season as the second wild-card, are on fire to start the 2025-26 season. They ended October with a division-leading 8-3-0 record and an average of 3.64 goals per game. Cole Caufield is tied with Morgan Geekie for the league lead with nine goals, and Nick Suzuki has a league-leading 14 assists. In goal, Jakub Dobes has gone 6-0-0, with a 1.97 goals against average and a save percentage of .930. On the other end of the ice, Jeremy Swayman is 9-1-1 during his 11 starts against Montreal.
Game 21: vs. Carolina, Nov 17, 7:00 PM EST – NESN
The Hurricanes will make their second trip to the TD Garden this month. Last season, the home teams were victorious in the three meetings, highlighted by a David Pastrnak hat trick on April 5, 2025, to help the Bruins snap a ten-game losing streak. The Hurricanes’ goaltending room took a hit during the preseason, with Pyotr Kochetkov dealing with an injury. In response, Carolina claimed former Providence Bruin goalie Brandon Bussi off waivers, and he has gone 3-1-0 with a .916 save percentage and a 2.25 GAA, stats that are better than Frederik Andersen’s. The Hurricanes activated Kochetkov off IR on October 31, initially carrying three goaltenders entering the month.
Game 22: @ Anaheim, Nov 19, 10:00 PM EST – NESN
The Bruins will travel to California for their second Western Conference road trip of the year, and their first stop will wrap up the season series with the Anaheim Ducks. Anaheim has won the last three matchups against the Bruins, including a 7-5 win at the TD Garden on October 23. Boston College Eagle Cutter Gauthier has found the back of the net six times for the Ducks, and Leo Carlsson is emerging as a threat for the orange and black, with 15 points through their first ten games.
Game 23: @ Los Angeles, Nov 21, 10:30 PM EST – NESN
Marco Sturm will make his first return to the Crypto.com Arena, the same building where he started his NHL coaching journey. Sturm was on Todd McLellan’s staff before running the Ontario Reign for the 2022-25 seasons. The Kings posted the best home record across the NHL last season, going 31-6-4 on home ice, but have started this campaign the opposite, going 0-2-2 at home in October. The Kings have been shorthanded 50 times this season, second in the league to the Bruins’ 54; meanwhile, their penalty kill has been killing at a 74% rate. The Bruins’ power play should have more than a few opportunities in this game, so long as they can stay out of the box themselves.
Game 24: @ San Jose, Nov 23, 8:00 PM EST – NESN
The California portion of the road trip ends with a game in the Bay Area. San Jose has gotten off to a slower start this season, going 3-6-2, which puts them 31st in the league. Macklin Celebrini is at the beginning of what is looking to be a breakout sophomore season; with 17 points, he leads the team in San Jose, and second place (Will Eklund) is a decent six points behind him. Former Bruin Dmitry Orlov has picked up nine assists during the first month in his new home. Last season, the Bruins fell in their lone trip to San Jose 3-1, in the middle of a season-low ten-game losing streak.
Game 25: @ NY Islanders, Nov 26, 7:00 PM EST – NESN
The Bruins will close out the season series with the New York Islanders on the night before Thanksgiving, marking the third matchup between these two teams within a month. The Islanders made an early-season personnel change, relieving goalie coach Piero Greco of his duties on October 22, 2025. They promoted Sergei Naumovs from Bridgeport. He worked with Ilya Sorokin when the goalie was in the KHL. Through October, Sorokin pitched a 3-4-1 record with a 3.40 GAA and a .877 save percentage.
Game 26: vs. NY Rangers, Nov 28, 1:00 PM EST – TNT, HBO Max
The Black Friday matinee game will feature the New York Rangers for the third time since 2019. The Rangers, now led by Marshfield native Mike Sullivan and former Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco, have not started as they would have liked. Through October, the Rangers compiled a 5-5-2 record, putting them at 12 points, the same as the Bruins. The Rangers have been involved in low-scoring affairs, scoring 2.18 goals per game while allowing 2.36. $92 million goalie Igor Shesterkin has posted a .916 save percentage and 2.32 goals against average while posting a 3-4-2 record. Jonathan Quick is posting a 1.35 GAA, with a .941 save percentage through four games. Sacco is the mind leading a successful Rangers penalty kill, the seventh-best in the league at 87.1%.
Game 27: vs. Detroit, Nov 29, 7:00 PM EST – NESN
The black and gold close out November with a game against the 100-year-old Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings had an exciting 8-4-0 start to the regular season, winning eight games in October for the first time since 2007. Detroit has been clicking on offense, getting meaningful contributions from Dylan Larkin (8-9–17) and 2023 seventh-round pick Emmitt Finnie (4-4–8), emerging from training camp to become a top-line option. This game will also be Marco Sturm’s first against Todd McLellan, who coached the Kings while Sturm was an assistant.
After going 6-7-0 in October, the Boston Bruins are still pushing to be a “tough out,” as team President Cam Neely mentioned before the season. A goal differential of -4 represents the Bruins keeping games close, and Neely mentioned that during the pregame on October 30. The road games in Colorado and Ottawa are games to move on from, and the Bruins did that as they ended the month of October. Bolstered by the play of David Pastrnak (7-10–17), Morgan Geekie (9-2–11), and Pavel Zacha (2-9–11), the Bruins are looking to move into November and get through it with more success than the losing record they had in October.
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