Thanksgiving annually comes less than a third of the way into the NHL season. But for whatever reason, a team’s place in the standings on the fourth Thursday in November typically says a great deal about its chances of playing for the Stanley Cup.
Between the 2005-06 and 2013-14 seasons, 77.3 percent of teams that were in the playoff picture as they sat down for Thanksgiving dinner remained there at season’s end, according to STATS. That trend continued last season, when just three teams made post-Thanksgiving jumps into the 16-team Stanley Cup playoff field.
Wednesday’s 11-game slate set the standings entering Thanksgiving 2016, and despite some serious early-season struggles, the Boston Bruins find themselves in surprisingly good shape.
Since their deflating loss to the San Jose Sharks on home ice last Tuesday, the Bruins have reeled off four wins in a row, the most unlikely of which came Wednesday in Detroit.
Dominated by the Red Wings for much of the contest, Boston remained within striking distance thanks to a herculean effort by goaltender — and former Wing — Jonas Gustavsson. A goal by rookie Colin Miller tied the score with 1:44 remaining in regulation, and another by first-year pro Frank Vatrano won the game in overtime.
The 3-2 victory allowed the Bruins to vault past the Wings and into third place in what has been a highly competitive Atlantic Division, meaning they would be a playoff team if the season ended Thursday.
“(The points) are huge,” Vatrano, who scored twice in the win, told NESN rinkside reporter Sarah Davis after the game. “We talked about this a couple of weeks ago — that we want to be in a good spot come Thanksgiving. I think that those last four games that we’ve won have put us in a real good spot, and now, there’s no looking back. We’ve got to keep playing good hockey.”
A four-game win streak makes the turkey and stuffing taste a bit better, but as Vatrano mentioned, now is not the time for complacency. Only a tiebreaker separates the Bruins from the Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning — all of whom sit at 25 points — in the Atlantic, and the Metropolitan Division’s New York Islanders (25) and New Jersey Devils (23) both could leapfrog Boston in the wild-card race with a strong weekend.
Oh, and of the 16 owners of playoff spots at this time last year, the Bruins were one of the three that eventually dropped out.
Thumbnail photo via Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports Images
