By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter/X @RyanJBosworth
The 2025-26 Boston Bruins have certainly exceeded expectations from those on the outside this season. Management, from the moment the 2024-25 season ended to now, have spoken about one thing: their goal of making the 2026 postseason.
As it stands right now, they’re on pace to accomplish their goal. Currently holding the second wild card position, with a record of 35-22-6 and 76 points. They’re 2 points clear of the cutline, and are on pace to be ahead of the playoff cutline after the conclusion of game 82.
However, there’s one major component that’ll hinder their ability to clinch a postseason berth, and that’s away games.
At home, the Bruins are a juggernaut. They have the second best home record in the league, at 24-8-1, only behind the Colorado Avalanche. Carolina, Dallas, and Buffalo make up the rest of the top-five home teams in the league. They’re in first place when it comes to wins on home ice, too. 49 of their 76 points have come at home.
Road games are quite the opposite, though. They’re the third-worst away team in the league, with a record of 11-14-5 through 30 games. The majority of their 19 games remaining are on the road (10), to their nine home games. If the Bruins continue at this subpar rate on the road, they can kiss the playoffs goodbye.
Their last road win came on January 15th, against Chicago. Since then, they find themselves on a seven-game losing streak on the road. During this winless skid, there’s three major losses that standout: February 1st against Tampa Bay, March 5th against Nashville, and March 8th against Pittsburgh.
February 1st may be the worst of them all, but regardless, all three of these games were opportunities for Boston to secure points on the road, and they only came out with two out of a possible six. While it’s true that you can’t always win, the manner in which Boston lost these games is what could potentially come back to haunt them.
Against Tampa Bay, at the Stadium Series, Boston had a monsterous 5-1 lead halfway through the game, and squandered it in less than 30 minutes. They’d go on to lose in the shootout, and lose a game where 99 out of 100 times you win.
Boston’s trip to Nashville for their March 5th showdown was a one-game, business trip-style roadtrip. It was a more than winnable game for Boston, considering the current state of the Nashville Predators, and they came out flat and gave away an important two points.
And, finally, their most recent squandering of an important two points came against Pittsburgh this past Sunday. At one point, they were winning 3-0. Pittsburgh roared back, scoring four straight, before Boston was able to get the equalizer to force overtime. Less than 20 seconds in, and Pittsburgh had won it.
While it may seem like nothing super serious, considering how tight the East currently is, those four points left on the table are going to make or break their playoff chances. Right now, at the time of writing this, the Bruins have a 61.2% chance to make the playoffs.
If the Bruins are unable to find a winning formula for their away games, that percentage will start to slip. They have an important two games ahead of them, as they find themselves on a mini-homestand, as they host the Kings tonight and the Sharks on Thursday night.
Following that is a three-game roadtrip, so, it may be obvious, but the Bruins certainly have their work cut out for them. Tonight’s game can be found on NESN and heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. EST.
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