Win or Go Home: Boston Bruins Playoff Chances in Question

For the Boston Bruins, it all comes down to Saturday afternoon, when the team will battle for a chance to make it back to the NHL Playoffs.

Now with just one game to play, the Boston Bruins after losing 8 of their last 10 games (1 OT loss) had success at the TD Garden last night with a 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit, a team the Bruins are battling with for a chance to punch their ticket as one of the last spots in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Bruins (42-30-9) now stand in the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with 93 points, and wrap up the regular season with a home game against the Ottawa Senators Saturday afternoon (12:30 NESN).

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365 days ago, the Bruins were in the same position, but we all know what came out of that. Boston played their way out of the playoffs after losing their last three games all to playoff contending teams (Florida, Washington, and Tampa Bay). Which led to the firing of former Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli. So the real question is if things don’t work out this year and the B’s don’t make the playoffs, is Head Coach Claude Julien next? Hopefully fans don’t have to worry about the longest active tenured coach in the NHL (since 07′), as the Bruins put themselves in a good spot Thursday night and one more win could put them over the hump.

The Bruins are fighting for their playoff lives with the Philadelphia Flyers (92 points) and the Detroit Red Wings (93 points), as both teams are facing playoff opponents going into their remaining regular season games.

As most teams in the NHL have only one game left on their schedule, the Flyers have a game in hand. The Flyers will face off against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday afternoon, followed by a Sunday night tilt with the surging New York Islanders that could ultimately decide where these three teams (DET,PHI,BOS) end up.

For the Flyers, they clinch a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs by winning each of these last two games, which will be hard to do with playoff seedings still up in the air for both the Islanders (99 points) and Penguins (104 points).

For the Detroit Red Wings it is plain and simple – win and they’re in. Detroit will take on the New York Rangers Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. Detroit (41-29-11), currently 3rd place in the Atlantic Division, has a post-season streak on the line as they have made the playoffs every year for the last 24 years.

Since the 1989-90 season they have always been on the ice come mid-April. Ironically, if they can clinch a playoff spot this year, they will still be 4 years short of the Boston Bruins 29-postseason streak from 1967-1996.

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If it wasn’t for a late Wayne Simmonds 3rd period goal for the Philadelphia Flyers, all the Bruins would have to do is win and they would be in. Since the Flyers pushed a point in last night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Bruins will of course have to beat Ottawa tomorrow, but then have to look for some help from other teams around the Eastern Conference.

The Bruins simply get into postseason play with a win, a loss by Detroit, or the Flyers losing 1 of their last two games. The Bruins have been screwed in recent past when relying on other teams to help them out when fighting for a playoff berth. But, I think with a win the Bruins will advance to the playoffs because of how difficult it will be for the Flyers to win in back-to-back games against the Penguins and Islanders.

If not there is always next season, but expect the coaching staff to have a drastic change of personnel.