Bruins’ Charlie Coyle Admits This About Postseason Losses

With five games remaining in the regular season, the Boston Bruins are getting ready for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Bruins have already clinched their postseason berth, but with the standings still in flux, their first-round opponent is still unknown.

Boston is coming off a tough six-game road trip, during which the Bruins topped the Florida Panthers, Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators, and Carolina Hurricanes. The Bruins return home for the first time since March 21 to host the Panthers on Saturday afternoon.

“First place is on the line,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters after practice at Warrior Ice Arena on Friday, per the team. “Besides that, we just want to continue what we’re doing, especially these last two games. We really care about our play heading into the playoffs. We feel our play is in a good place and what better way to test than to play against Florida at home?”

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The Bruins are 3-0-0 against the Panthers this season and will be seeking the regular-season sweep, but there is a lingering stench of how Florida ended Boston’s historic season in the first round last year.

Charlie Coyle admitted on iHeart Radio’s “Sore Losers” podcast the feeling of defeat never quite goes away.

“I’ll let you know when it happens,” Coyle said on the podcast. “It still stings. When you don’t win, and especially when you have a good team, or you make it to the finals, and it’s right there … it hurts even more than getting knocked out in four games in the first round.”

The Bruins center added that while you can “never get” the previous postseason back, it’s why players come back year after year.

“You realize when you get older and you play more … you don’t play on these good teams every year,” Coyle explained. “You want to take advantage of it. When you don’t come through and win, it hurts. (…) You can never get it back but that’s why you keep playing. You come back the next year … hopefully, this is the year.”

Over the last 10 games, the Bruins went 7-3-0 outscoring their opponents 32-22. The Panthers haven’t faired as well in their last 10, going 3-6-1. Florida was outscored 33-31 during that stretch, including a 4-3 loss to Boston on March 26.

Boston looks to extend its winning streak to four games when it hosts Florida on Saturday. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and will air on ABC.