The Bruins might need to wait until the very last day of the NHL season to learn their Stanley Cup playoff first-round opponent.
Boston secured the Eastern Conference’s top seed weeks ago, and as it continues to set new NHL records, all it can do is wait to see who it’ll play in the first round.
By virtue of owning the No. 1 seed, the Bruins will play the East’s No. 2 wild-card team when the playoffs begin next week.
Here’s what we know about the situation as of Wednesday. The Florida Panthers, last season’s Presidents’ Trophy winner, has locked up one of the wild card spots. The remaining playoff berth will go to either the New York Islanders or Pittsburgh Penguins. Any of the three teams could still wind up as the Bruins’ first-round opponent.
The Islanders play their 82nd and final regular-season game Wednesday night at home against the lowly Canadiens. If New York wins, it is in, and the Penguins are officially eliminated. Pittsburgh had a chance to keep pace with a very winnable game Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks at home and laid an egg.
Pittsburgh could technically still get in, but it would need to beat Columbus on Thursday night paired and have the Islanders suffer a regulation loss Wednesday night against Montreal. New York just needs a point to get in.
As such, the Islanders have roughly a 90% chance to get into the playoffs, while the Penguins have a 10% shot, per Money Puck.
Betting odds reflect as much, too. The Islanders are -950 to make the playoffs at FanDuel Sportsbook.
It gets a little more complicated when looking at the Bruins’ potential first-round opponent options. Let’s just go ahead and rule out the Penguins to make it a little less convoluted. Here’s where the two teams stand ahead of their respective season finales.
WC1: Florida, 42-31-8 (92 points) … Thursday at Carolina
WC2: New York, 41-31-9 (91 points) … Wednesday vs. Montreal
If you were to base it all on what’s most likely to happen, the Bruins are most likely to play Florida in the first round. That’s because the Islanders should cake-walk into the playoffs, playing at home against a team that lost five of its last six.
The Panthers, meanwhile, could face a far stiffer test Thursday. The Hurricanes technically still have something to play for in their final game. Carolina is battling with New Jersey for the top seed in the Metropolitan Division, something that would ensure home-ice advantage at least until the Eastern Conference finals. Carolina owns a slight one-point advantage over the Devils, and both teams play Thursday night.
The wildest outcome is still on the table, though, which is the Islanders choking hard Wednesday night and the Penguins beating the Blue Jackets on Thursday to set up a Bruins-Penguins first-round series.
Very much for what it’s worth, the Bruins swept the season series with both Pittsburgh and the Islanders and went 2-1-1 against the Panthers.
