Bruins Get Painful Reality Check on Wednesday Night

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Spencer Garrett Ostrow | Last updated Mar 26, 2025 8:35 PM ET

The Boston Bruins entered Wednesday night’s matchup against the Anaheim Ducks sitting five spots out of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card position. With just 69 points through 72 games, they'll likely miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 NHL season.

This decline was somewhat expected given Boston’s approach at the trade deadline. Once sitting third in the Atlantic Division on Jan. 1, Joe Sacco's Bruins stumbled out of a playoff spot by the deadline, prompting general manager Don Sweeney to essentially wave the white flag on this season and the near future.

Sweeney dealt key players, including Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers, Charlie Coyle to the Colorado Avalanche, Justin Brazeau to the Minnesota Wild, and Trent Frederic to the Edmonton Oilers.

With expectations at near rock bottom, the Bruins are now underdogs against an Anaheim team that hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2017-18 season and won’t be in the mix again this year.

Also, according to StatMuse, the Ducks have been underdogs in 66 of the 70 games they've played this season.

It’s a painful reality check for Bruins fans on how good they've had it for years.

The Boston Bruins have officially hit rock bottom

Underdogs to the Ducks pic.twitter.com/UoV52FEDns
— Ryan Sura (@RyanSura18) March 26, 2025

Since the post below, the betting odds have shifted to +115 for the Bruins and -135 for the Ducks (ESPN BET). While the spread remains unchanged, bettors can now take the Ducks at -1.5 with a +185 payout.

Puck drop in Anaheim is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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