The Bruins are not going to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs unless they improve things on the road.
That much was obvious heading into Saturday’s 3-2 epic shootout win over the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena, so it was fitting that the B’s hopped over the Red Wings for the top wild card spot after lasting until the victorious ninth round in the shootout. It was Boston’s first road win since January, arriving against a quality Capitals team also hungry for points, and it was exactly the start they needed on a key three-game road trip through Washington, New Jersey, and Montreal that could and should make a major imprint on their postseason hopes.
“It’s excellent. It’s exactly what we wanted to start this road trip off with was a win,” said Jeremy Swayman, who was brilliant with 25 saves and a number of key stops in the first half of the game until the B’s offense could get going. “We know how big these points are, so no matter how it gets done that is all we care about.”
FRASER MINTEN AND JEREMY SWAYMAN SUPREMACY. LFG, BRUINS ‼️ pic.twitter.com/CAUTw5yOae— John 🇨🇻 (@YaBoyyyJohn) March 14, 2026
It doesn’t just stop with the slump-busting win, however, where they had to grind all the way to the ninth round of the shootout before rookie Fraser Mintenfinally solved Logan Thompson for his first career NHL shootout goal. The B’s finish the season with seven of their last 11 games on the road, including a pair of road tilts against a Columbus team chasing close behind in the playoff standings, and they’ll need to achieve a level of consistency away from TD Garden that has eluded them with a “meh” 12-14-5 road record this season.
The disparity between their home dominance and their road struggles is the widest among any team across the NHL, and it will be their undoing if it creeps back in after the gritty victory in Washington.
“We kept them to the outside for the most part and we were solid. I thought we were being smart and we were good defensively, and overall, we did a good job,” said Marco Sturm. “Give the guys credit being down one goal twice and in the third period to keep coming back. Thanks to Swayman too a little bit. He was excellent and not just in the shootout. I was thought he was unbelievable. Big road game. Every point is huge and at the start of a road trip it’s even better.”
ONE TIMERS
*Let’s skip the blowing smoke and just tell it like it is: Elias Lindholm has struggled in a big way since coming from playing at Team Sweden at the Olympics. Lindholm has a goal and three points with a minus-9 rating in nine games, and it has been a major struggle 5-on-5 for Lindholm, Morgan Geekie and David Pastrnakwhen they were all playing together over the span of time.
Lindholm isn’t playing with a necessary level of intensity, isn’t getting to the tough areas in the offensive zone and isn’t exactly living up to his Selke Trophy-level reputation with his work on the backcheck, or in the defensive zone in general. Marco Sturm finally made a move that seemed a long time coming in dropping him down to the third line with Tanner Jeannot and Mikey Eyssimont in Saturday’s win over Washington while 21-year-old rookie Fraser Mintenwas elevated to No. 1 center in between Geekie and Pastrnak.
The move was made, in part, to see if it could spark Lindholm into elevating his game, but it was done just as much on merit for the way Minten just continues to get better and better while pushing his way into the No. 1 center conversation.
Most importantly, the Bruins won the game, and Minten had a solid outing while playing strong 200-foot hockey, setting a big-time screen on Charlie McAvoy’sfirst goal and then scoring the game-winner in the shootout.
Charlie McAvoy changeup pic.twitter.com/P0wxhA1yTf— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) March 14, 2026
The good news is that Lindholm responded as well with five shots on net, seven shot attempts and his regular good work in the faceoff circle in over 20 minutes of ice time, even though he did finish a minus-2 for the game as well. But if this humble hockey writer were in Sturm’s seat, Minten would stay as the No. 1 guy for a bit after passing the first test and Lindholm will need to string together more efforts that rise to the level of a team scratching and clawing for the playoff spot right now.
*Kiefer Sherwoodwas all kinds of angry with Charlie McAvoy and the NHL Department of Player Safety after the late-game hit from McAvoy on Sherwood at the end of Boston’s loss to San Jose on Thursday night. It was a big-time hit as McAvoy and the Bruins were scrambling to score and keep possession in a last-ditch comeback attempt, and it was clear right afterward that Sherwood wasn’t happy about taking the hit, just as he wasn’t happy when there was no suspension or fine.
Sherwood called McAvoy’s hit “dirty and unnecessary and just stupid on his part.”
“If anyone can attest to being physical — humbly — I know, obviously, you know where you’re aiming for,” said Sherwood to San Jose Hockey Now. “There’s a difference between hitting to be physical and hitting to hurt, and I don’t think any of my hits last year were ever to the head.
“There’s a difference when you hit to be physical and to be hard against, it’s a whole other situation when you hit to the head, and that’s the problem I have with it. Now you’re talking about hitting to injure and hitting for potential stuff down the road. That’s something that the game needs to address, because for the players’ sake, our well-being and our health and safety is more important than a power play or one-time thing in that game. That’s the only issue I have with it, is the contact to the head. Obviously, the game is out of hand, he doesn’t need to step up. Whatever, I get it, you play to the whistle. I don’t blame him for playing hard until the whistle, but I do have an issue that the impact was straight to my head.”
It was also fairly obvious, watching the play, that head contact was made only because Sherwood was hunched over with his head down low by McAvoy’s forearm and elbow in a fast game where it’s nearly impossible to adjust to somebody moving one way or another at the last instant.
The Bruins defenseman was called for an elbowing minor at the time, and there wasn’t any fine or supplemental discipline in the aftermath, but to this humble hockey writer, this wasn’t one of the head-scratchers one can occasionally see from George Parros and the rest of the NHL’s disciplinary crew.
Sherwood was in a bad spot and took a rough hit as a result, and that cause and effect really hasn’t changed in the NHL when it comes to reviewing these plays.
Kiefer Sherwood takes a hit from Charlie McAvoy, and chaos ensues pic.twitter.com/nG2OBtObVa— JD Young (@MyFryHole) March 13, 2026
*It’s never a bad thing for a player to stand up for themselves as Fabian Lysell tried to in a Providence Bruins game this weekend, but the former first-round pick may want to leave that stuff to somebody else from now on.
You always like to see players sticking up for themselves, but Lysell may want to leave it to his teammates to do his fighting for him next time https://t.co/KpnuMYO7HU— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) March 15, 2026
It’s also worth noting that none of his Providence Bruins teammates stepped in as he was about to engage in a hockey fight that he really didn’t look prepared for.
