BOSTON –– The Boston Bruins will dictate their own playoff fate this Saturday at TD Garden, as they prepare to host the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 12:30 p.m. puck drop.
“Hopefully, it is going to be a great day for the Boston Bruins. The guys deserve everything. Playing that great all season long. Hopefully, we get rewarded today, this afternoon,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “We are going to try to do everything in our power to make this happen.”
Should the B’s secure a win in any manner, they will punch their ticket to the 2026 NHL playoffs. The Lightning have already clinched a postseason berth, currently occupying third place in the Atlantic Division with 102 points. The Bruins hold the first wild-card spot with 96 points. This Saturday marks the fourth and final regular-season clash between the two teams.
“High-end skill and players in their lineup,” Sturm said of Tampa Bay. “Overall, we’ve done a really good job; we just didn’t finish it [against them]. A lot of times it’s 40 minutes; the other game was 50 minutes. We’ve just got to make sure we’re going to put 60 minutes here tonight, because they’re that good.”
Mikey Eyssimont is returning to the lineup for the first time since April 4. The former Tampa Bay forward will skate on the third line alongside Fraser Minten and Marat Khusnutdinov, filling in for Alex Steeves. Eyssimont has contributed 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) across 53 games. Sturm confirmed that no other changes have been made.
Wait, There’s More
- Jeremy Swayman is set to start in goal for Boston. The netminder’s last appearance was on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes. Swayman boasts a 2.77 goals against average and a .906 save percentage through 53 games.
- Morgan Geekie recorded a hat trick on Tuesday. The 27-year-old forward leads the Bruins with 37 goals this season, with 12 coming on the power play, which is another team high. Geekie will remain on the first line with Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak. His younger brother, Conor Geekie, is slated to play for Tampa Bay.
- Charlie McAvoy has achieved a career-best 60 points this season (11 goals, 49 assists) while averaging a team-leading 24:28 of ice time per night. The defenseman is paired with Jonathan Aspirot on the first defensive unit. On Wednesday, McAvoy was named the Bruins’ nominee for the 2026 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, as chosen by the Boston chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association (PHWA).
Opposing View
- The Lightning are coming off a 2-1 defeat against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday at Bell Centre. Darren Raddysh scored Tampa Bay’s lone goal, and netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves. The Lightning have dropped their last three games leading up to their contest in Boston.
- Nikita Kucherov enters Saturday on a five-game point streak, having registered three goals and four assists during that stretch. The 32-year-old forward leads Tampa Bay with 128 points (43 goals, 85 assists) through 73 games. Kucherov is projected to be on the first line with Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli. He also features on the first power-play unit.
- Raddysh, who leads all Lightning defensemen with 70 points, has contributed two goals and two assists in his last four outings. The team announced that the 30-year-old blueliner will be absent on Saturday due to an injury.