The Boston Bruins are eager for a playoff push.
Boston entered the Olympic break holding onto a playoff spot, as the Bruins entered the season projected to miss the playoffs after last year’s disappointment.
However, Boston has been playing well, and the players who didn’t go to the Olympics used the break as a mental reset. So, as the Bruins returned to practice, head coach Marco Sturm used the first practice almost like the first day of training camp.
“We want to treat it like training camp,” Sturm said after practice on Wednesday. “For a first practice, I thought it was good. And tomorrow we’re going to continue that. We’re going to touch on some other areas of our game and go from there.”
As the Bruins begin to get their feet back under them, they know the focus quickly turns to playing games and the stretch run. Due to the condensed schedule, Boston will play a ton of games in a short period of time.
So, Bruins forward Pavel Zacha said the team is eager to get back to playing and continue it push for a playoff spot.
“It’s great that we are in the right spot we wanted to be in and have something to fight for,” Zacha said. “I think everyone is excited to come back and give it their all. It is really exciting for us after last year, missing the playoffs, being in the run. We'll do what we can to keep getting better with the season like we did so far.”
The Bruins entered the break with a record of 32-20-5 and are holding onto the final Wild Card spot. Boston will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at home on Feb. 26 in its first game after the Olympic break.
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