by Bob Morello
Bruins: playoff ready
National Hockey League’s regular season for the Bruins began on October 8, 2025. 157 days will have passed to bring fans up to Tuesday’s final game (#82) with the locals hosting the New Jersey Devils. Ironically, Boston’s playoff seed will be determined – following the outcome of this final regular season game. One thing is already known, the Bruins have clinched a playoff spot in the wild card spot. The dilemma is the Bruins play Tuesday, but the Ottawa Senators will not play until Wednesday, when they will host the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins are still in a battle with the Ottawa Senators for either the first or second wild-card spot. Coming into Tuesday, the locals held a single point lead over the Senators for the first wild-card spot with 98 points to Ottawa’s 97. Boston could lock up the top wild-card spot with a regulation win over the Devils on Tuesday, if the regular season ends with the Bruins and Senators finishing with the same number of points, the ‘regulation wins’ tiebreaker held by Ottawa over Boston, would give the higher seed for the playoffs top wild-card slot to the Senators. Summarizing it, if the Bruins finish in the top wild-card spot, they would face the Atlantic Division winner – Buffalo Sabres. If the Bruins end up in the second wild-card spot, they would face the Metropolitan Division winner Carolina Hurricanes. Once the wild card positions have been secured, the proposed start date for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs will start on the weekend of Saturday, April 18, with the Bruins getting a Saturday or Sunday start date. Fans will have to hold their breath until the exact start date is announced after the regular-season seeding is finalized.