Bruins Their Own Worst Enemy

The Boston Bruins entered Saturday’s matinee against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a chance to clinch a 2026 Stanley Cup Playoff berth. In many cases, clinching a postseason opportunity requires help from other teams. Unlike many teams this time of year, the Bruins’ path was simple: win, and they’re in.

This is not how things ended up going.

Low-scoring affairs are all too common in the playoffs, but that’s often due to a combination of a few factors. Whether it’s teams playing a more conservative brand of hockey to limit opportunities, solid defensive structures mitigating scoring chances, strong goaltending play or a combination of the three, the average score in playoff games is often lower than in the regular season.