There isn’t a lot of secrecy or nuance to what’s going on with the Boston Bruins right now.
They are struggling to score at a time of year when every inch of ice is being challenged and, generally speaking, it is much more difficult to generate offense and score goals absent old-fashioned hard work around the net.
The Bruins again only managed to scrape together one goal in Sunday’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center, but they did manage to secure an ultra-important point that pushed them to a 98 percent chance of clinching a Stanley Cup playoff spot.
“I thought that was a huge point for us. I know everything wasn’t smooth for us, but guys battled back,” said Marco Sturm. “[It was] unfortunate a little bit in OT [with the penalties], but I will take that point.”
It makes three road games in a row where they’ve clawed for just a single goal while taking one out of a possible six points, and with another big challenge waiting for them in Carolina on Tuesday night with the Hurricanes. There are a couple of silver linings here, starting with Boston’s very secure position as the top wild-card team in the East while many of their closest competitors keep losing, and continuing with the stellar defense and goaltending that have been constants in all these close defeats.
The Bruins also were able to nab a power play goal when they really needed one at the start of the third period in Sunday’s game when Pavel Zacha notched his 29th goal of the season.
Pavel Zacha ties the game for Boston with his 29th goal of the season. #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/mVD2Gn7HLR
— Jack Aylmer (@Jack_Aylmer) April 5, 2026
The key point secured by a special teams score goes a long way toward giving them the easiest path out of six teams fighting for three playoff spots in the Eastern Conference right now.
Bruins wake up with a 98 percent chance of qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs https://t.co/j1CwmIT6vq
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) April 6, 2026
But it still doesn’t ease the nerves of a Bruins team that knows it is struggling at the moment.
“It’s tough to be positive right now. The trip is going tough, you know, and we’re not getting the wins. We’re not playing good hockey and the offense is struggling right now. We just need to turn it around,” said David Pastrnak. “Pretty much this whole trip we’re not scoring many goals.
“Maybe the shots are there, but we just need to get greedier and go more to the net to start scoring more goals. We can’t rely on our goaltender every night. It’s a tough stretch but we’ve been through so much together as a group. We need to stick together. It’s getting down to the wire and to turn this trip around we’ve got one more chance.”
Clearly, the struggle is real to score goals for the Black and Gold right now.
Morgan Geekie has now gone 17 games without a goal, dating back to the beginning of March, and showed some frustration breaking a stick in overtime when a prime scoring chance from the high slot was deflected by a Flyers defender at the last minute.
Morgan Geekie with the seldom-seen bench minor for "throwing a replacement stick at Charlie McAvoy after he snapped his" 😅 pic.twitter.com/gQeizFTY6i
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 5, 2026
And even Pastrnak looked like a fatigued player in terms of his skating legs and decision-making on Sunday as the B’s were playing their third game in fourth days and had less than 24 hours to skate in Philly after playing Saturday afternoon in Tampa as well.
All of it boils down to some very clear and present offensive issues that have many corners of the hockey universe calling for the Bruins to prematurely promote 19-year-old James Hagens from Providence as some kind of savior.
Certainly, Hagens has flashed the speed and skill at the AHL level that made him the seventh overall pick in last summer’s NHL draft during his time with the Bruins, and the Bruins are understandably excited about the long-term possibilities for him.
James Hagens is snipe city for the P-Bruins tonight pic.twitter.com/gTUQEmUtWD
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) March 29, 2026
But we are also talking about a gifted teenager trying to make the jump from college hockey to the pros, as Hagens has posted a goal and four points in six AHL games since signing his amateur tryout agreement. And almost none of them have come during 5-on-5 play at the AHL level, either.
Hagens has not been a