January 14, 2025 | 11:40am ET
By Shawn Hutcheon, TheFourthPeriod.com

STANDINGS SHOW BRUINS NEED TO “ELEVATE” THEIR GAME

Brad Marchand, forward

BOSTON, MA — To watch the standings or not to watch the standings? That is the question among many in the hockey world (my apologies to William Shakespeare).

With the NHL season slightly past its halfway point, is it too soon to watch the playoff races?

In the Eastern Conference, competition for playoff positioning changes almost on a nightly basis between the Tampa Bay Lightning (49), Boston (47 points), Columbus Blue Jackets (46), Ottawa Senators (45), Detroit Red Wings (44), Montreal Canadiens (44), Pittsburgh Penguins (44), and Philadelphia Flyers (43). Even the New York Rangers (42) and New York Islanders (41) are not totally out of contention for a playoff spot.

At this point, it looks like the only team in the East that will not qualify for the playoffs is the Buffalo Sabres (37) but who knows, if they go on a winning streak and more than one club hits a losing streak, that may change.

The Bruins have won just one of its last seven games (1-5-1) and dropped from third place in the conference’s Atlantic Division to the first Wild Card spot in the East.

Whether it is too soon or not, Bruins Nation is keeping an eye on the standings – daily.

If Boston were to be on the outside looking in when the postseason begins, it would be the first time since the 2015-16 season.

Bruins captain Brad Marchand is in his 16th season in the NHL, all with Boston. He has some experience with playoff chases and what the Black and Gold needs to do to remain in the playoff hunt.

“It’s always about building,” Marchand said after Monday’s team practice. “You never want to get too high. You never want to get too low. It’s understanding where we’re at. Where we need to continue to get better and just playing within our structure and elevating that compete level. This time of year, we gotta continue to elevate. The teams that do, will continue to grow and push themselves into playoff position. The teams that don’t will drop off. We have to be a team that continues to elevate.”

The Bruins elevated their game in their first win of 2025 when they defeated the Florida Panthers in overtime (5-4) at Florida last Saturday. It was not Boston’s best performance of the year but it was an elevated performance since their last win – 4-0 over Columbus – on December 28.

“It’s a one-off,” Marchand said. “You don’t ever want to look at that and say, ‘We’re back.’ It was a good opportunity to beat a really good team. It was a good test for us. We faced some adversity in that game that we got through, but it doesn’t mean that everything’s going to go right moving forward. One game isn’t going to change the season in one way or another. It was a great win for our group. It’s great to get back in that win column but there’s still areas we need to improve. We didn’t have a great game but ultimately, wins are what matters.”

Boston has 37 contests remaining in the regular-season. Nineteen of those games will be against teams that are currently in playoff positions. An additional 10 contests will be versus teams that are presently fighting for postseason spots. Leaving eight games that the Bruins should win. I say, should, because as the saying goes, in the NHL any team can win on any given night regardless of how good the opponent is.

As the schedule shows, if playoff hockey is to be played at TD Garden this coming Spring, Boston will need to elevate its game on a nightly basis. According to Marchand, the Bruins feel they can do just that.

“All you can do is take it one day at a time,” he explained. “We have a belief in the room.”

Perhaps it is not too soon to check out the standings after all.

California

If you would indulge me for a moment, as a native of Southern California, the destruction and loss experienced by the people of the Los Angeles area breaks my heart. My family is thinking of everyone in SoCal each and every day hoping that their nightmare comes to an end soon.