Bruins-Blackhawks Matchup Kicks Off Ferocious Final Stretch For Boston

BOSTON — There will be no more gimmes for the Bruins as they look to secure a trip back to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Eighteen games remain on Boston’s regular-season schedule, and of those eighteen opponents, just five sat outside the playoff picture entering Thursday. Statistically speaking, this March and April are more difficult for the Bruins than they are for any other team in the NHL.

“I think it’s a great challenge for us,” center Patrice Bergeron said. “We’ve got to definitely face some good teams, especially if you enter the playoffs. It’s going to be tough battles and tough games, so why not start right now and play the big teams and the tough matchups and be ready for that?”

It all starts Thursday night, when the Bruins entertain NHL leading scorer Patrick Kane and the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks for the first time this season. After that comes a Saturday night meeting with the Washington Capitals, who have run roughshod over the Eastern Conference this season and are on pace to challenge the NHL record for regular-season wins (62, set by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings).

The Capitals entered Thursday with an NHL-best 98-points, 18 more than the East’s second-place team, the Florida Panthers.

Road dates with Florida and the Tampa Bay Lightning (who have won seven in a row) follow before Boston gets a chance to catch its breath at home against the Carolina Hurricanes, one of its few remaining non-playoff-bound opponents.

From there, the remainder of the Bruins’ schedule includes a who’s who of perennial postseason participants: San Jose, Anaheim, Los Angeles, both New York clubs, St. Louis, Detroit. Throw in rematches with the Blackhawks and Panthers, and you have one heck of a gauntlet Boston must navigate if it hopes to avoid a second consecutive playoff no-show.

The Bruins enter their first Chicago matchup in possession of the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Division, and ideally, they’d like to finish the season no lower than that. A top-three finish in the Atlantic would mean Boston could not play a team from the Metropolitan Division until the Eastern Conference finals and thus would avoid a potential early-round date with the powerhouse Capitals.

Before they worry about seeding, though, the Bruins first need to get into the playoffs, which is no sure thing given how tightly packed the East is this season. Washington is all alone in first place, but just five points separate No. 2 from No. 7, and No. 8 sits a mere three points back of that.

“It is a great challenge for us,” Bergeron said. “We know it’s going to be tough games, and the schedule is not easy. But at the same time, we have to approach it a game at a time, and (Thursday night) is definitely something that we need our right game. There’s no ifs ands or buts about it, and that’s it.”

Thumbnail photo via Dennis Wierzbicki/USA TODAY Sports Images