By: Jake Ferraro | Follow me on Twitter/X @18Jxxx18
After last night’s game against the Florida Panthers, the Boston Bruins have played their final game before the 2026 Winter Olympics. The Bruins go into the break with a 32-20-5 overall record and will hold in a playoff position as the second Wild Card seed in the Eastern Conference with 69 points.
2026 marks the first time since 2014 that National Hockey League players will participate in the Winter Olympics. Heading into a long break can always draw concern about how a team will be when the NHL returns to play. The Bruins won’t play another game until Feb. 26 when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets. As the Olympic break has now arrived for the Bruins, it’s time to look back in franchise history on how the team has done heading into the break and how the team finished following the break since the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
2005-06 season
The first time the NHL had an Olympic break after the 2004-05 lockout was in the 2005-06 season. This season was the Bruins’ last season before Hall of Fame defenseman Zdeno Chara joined the team, and it was a season to forget in team history.
At the time of the Olympic break, the Bruins had a 24-24-10 record. The Bruins had lost four of their last five games heading into the break, so maybe a break would bring in a new hot streak for a potential playoff push. It was anything but that.
The Bruins lost seven of their first eight games following the break, and finished the season losing nine of their last ten games. Overall, the Bruins finished with a 29-37-16 record. Five wins in the final 24 games of the season is one rough way to end it for the Bruins.
2009-10 season
2010 will be a year of “what if” for the Bruins due to the team blowing a 3-0 series lead in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Philadelphia Flyers, but it’s time to look back at how the team did before and after the Olympic break.
At the time of the break, the Bruins had a 27-22-11 record. After losing 10 consecutive games, the Bruins headed into the break with momentum by winning four consecutive games. While the Bruins made the 2010 playoffs as the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, the team never got quite hot to have momentum. The Bruins won their final three games before the 2010 playoffs to finish with a 39-30-13 record.
The Bruins defeated the Buffalo Sabres in six games to win their first round series, but every Bruin fan knows the pain of the season’s finish in round two.
2013-14 season
As mentioned earlier, the 2013-14 season was the last time the Winter Olympics featured NHL players. This was the best season the Bruins had during an Olympic break following the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
The Bruins had a 37-16-4 record and had won seven of their last nine games heading into the break. With a great record, some thought the Bruins might stumble when play returned, but that didn’t happen. The Bruins went on to capture the Atlantic Division and Presidents’ Trophy with a 54-19-9 record. The Bruins had an impressive 15-1-1 record during the month of March, which included a 12-game winning streak.
In the first round of the 2014 playoffs, the Bruins knocked off the Detroit Red Wings in five games, but were upset by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round. With losing Game 7 on home ice, the series loss to the Canadiens stung a lot more for the Bruins.
This season
This season has seen the Bruins have hot and cold stretches. The Bruins will go into the 2026 break on a cold stretch. The Bruins went 11-1-1 in January and ended the month on a two-game winning streak. However, the Bruins lost their last two games before the break, with both being shootout losses. This past Saturday in the 2026 Stadium Series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and last night against the Panthers. To make last night’s loss worse, Charlie McAvoy was injured after a hit to the head. Pavel Zacha missed the last two games, and Elias Lindholm recently went on injured reserve.
With losing two games in a row and injuries hitting McAvoy, Zacha, and Lindholm, the break may have arrived at the right time for the Bruins to get some rest. However, the standings are a concern when the NHL returns to play.
Regardless of what happens in tonight’s seven NHL games, the Bruins will be in a playoff spot going into the break. However, teams like the Panthers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Washington Capitals will be fighting for a playoff spot and jump the Bruins in the standings. The Lightning, Red Wings, Canadiens, and Sabres will be tough teams for the Bruins to jump ahead of in the standings as well. Twenty-five games remain for the Bruins moving forward.
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