Bruins in, seed uncertain
Boston has clinched a playoff spot, but the Bruins’ exact first‑round seed and opponent remain unsettled as remaining games resolve. (nesn.com) (nytimes.com).
Boston is in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the Bruins opened Tuesday still waiting to learn whether they will finish as the first or second Eastern Conference wild card. (nesn.com) (nhl.com) The Bruins clinched on Saturday, April 11, when Detroit lost in regulation to New Jersey after Boston’s 2-1 home loss to Tampa Bay. Boston entered Tuesday at 44-27-10 with 98 points and one regular-season game left, against the Devils at TD Garden. (nhl.com) (espn.com) (nhl.com) Ottawa started Tuesday one point behind Boston at 43-27-11, so the two clubs were still fighting over the conference’s two wild-card spots. The Senators dropped into the second wild card with a 4-3 overtime loss to New Jersey on Sunday. (hockey-reference.com) (nhl.com) That distinction decides the opponent. Under the National Hockey League’s playoff format, the wild card with the better record plays the division winner with the worse record, and the lower wild card draws the stronger division champion. (nhl.com) In the East, Carolina had already locked up first place in the Metropolitan Division with 110 points, while Buffalo and Montreal were tied atop the Atlantic Division with 106 points entering the final days. Boston’s first-round matchup therefore depended on both the Bruins-Senators race and the Atlantic title race. (hockey-reference.com) (nhl.com) If Boston held the top wild card, the Bruins would face whichever division winner finished with fewer points. If Boston fell to the second wild card, the Bruins would open against Carolina, the East’s top division winner. (nhl.com) (hockey-reference.com) The turnaround has been sharp. Boston missed the playoffs in 2024-25, then returned a year later behind a rebound season from Jeremy Swayman and a roster that stayed in the race long enough to survive a crowded Eastern wild-card chase. (nytimes.com) The final piece was still unresolved Tuesday: beat New Jersey and Boston improves its chances of keeping the higher wild card; stumble, and the Bruins could enter the playoffs on the road against the conference’s toughest bracket. (cbssports.com) (nesn.com)
