Can the Boston Bruins take the next step during the 2024 NHL Playoffs?

The Boston Bruins are putting the finishing touches on yet another stellar regular season. However, their shortcomings during the NHL playoffs in recent seasons have left fans with an empty feeling at the end of each campaign. Are the Bruins better equipped to make a deep Stanley Cup playoffs run this year? All statistics are sourced from Hockey Reference.

The Boston Bruins skated circles around the rest of the NHL in 2022-2023, setting the mark for most wins by a team in a regular season with 65.

The Bruins haven’t been quite as good in 2023-2024, but are still one of the best teams in the league. Boston has clinched their sixth 100 plus point season in the last seven years. They didn’t make it to the threshold during the Covid-shortened campaign in 2020-2021.

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Despite their remarkable performance in the 2022-2023 regular season, the Bruins were ousted in the first round of the NHL playoffs by the eighth seeded Florida Panthers. Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk told Sportsnet Canada, “it really is the biggest upset in NHL history…to every single person, except the guys in the locker room.”

Not only did Boston lose the series; they conceded a 3-1 lead. Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron told ESPN after the series, “It hurts. You compete hard and battle all year for that. We’re shocked and disappointed.”

NBC Sports believes that the Bruins were unceremoniously bounced from the NHL postseason in 2023 for four main reasons.

Linus Ullmark conceded at least four goals in three games against the Panthers, but NBC Sports believed that he may not have been fully healthy.

“I think the only thing I can look at right now and say I would have done different is starting Game 5, I would have had Bergeron and Brad Marchand together. Don’t know if it makes a difference, but you know, that’s the only thing that I look at right now that I would change,” said Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery. NBC Sports believed that lineup decision was also suspect.

The Bruins gave the puck away 15 times in Game 2 and 17 times in Game 5. To the Panthers’ credit, they took advantage of these opportunities.

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NBC Sports believes that Boston was not able to sufficiently slow down Florida’s second line, which Tkachuk was a part of. Tkachuk had 11 points in the series.

Of course, Bruins fans don’t want to relive the painful details of last spring. However, certain lessons and areas of improvement from the 2023 playoffs might become relevant once again in 2024.

What was so strange about Boston’s loss last year was the subpar play of Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman, who had been untouchable during the regular season. The duo has had another strong campaign, but it’ll be fascinating to see if Montgomery pivots to the other player if one falters early on this postseason. Either way, both players will need to step up.

While turnovers are self-inflicted wounds, they can also be a sign of a team feeling complacent against their opponent. ESPN believed that Boston felt the series in 2023 was supposed to be a coronation, when instead it was a bludgeoning at their expense. With a more solidified focus, Boston should be able to minimize puck giveaways during the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.

While Boston coasted through the regular season in 2023, they haven’t had that same luxury here in 2024. The Bruins have needed to play hard right until the very end to secure playoff positioning. New England Sports Network believes that Montgomery has made the right moves to help the team peak at the right time as they head into the postseason.

It doesn’t feel like the road to the Stanley Cup Finals will be as easy in 2024, though. The Panthers have had a better regular season than they did a year ago. The New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes could also pose a legitimate threat.

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Boston Sports radio’s 98.5 website has called the 2023 Bruins one of the best teams in the city’s history that didn’t win a championship. The Bruins want to erase that lingering feeling of disappointment to hoist the Stanley Cup for the seventh time in franchise history.