Just when you think that the Boston Bruins have hit a new low in suffering a road loss in 2025-26, think again. To say that the Black and Gold have struggled on the road would be an understatement. In fact, if they miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it'll be at the top of the list of reasons why.
Before the Olympic break last month, they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stadium Series game. Boston held a 5-1 lead in the second period, only to allow four unanswered goals in what turned into a 6-5 shootout loss. Three nights later, the Bruins suffered another shootout loss, this time to the Florida Panthers.
After the break, the road woes continued with a dreadful 6-3 loss to the Nashville Predators, then they blew a 3-0 second-period lead to the Pittsburgh Penguins, losing 5-4 in overtime. Blowing leads on the road has been an issue, and that may have hit rock bottom on Monday night.
Bruins blow lead to Devils in inexcusable overtime loss
After a shootout win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday afternoon, the Bruins played the middle game of their three-game road trip against the New Jersey Devils. First-period goals from David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha staked the Black and Gold to a 2-0 lead. New Jersey had one win this season when trailing by multiple goals in 28 games.
Well, it's safe to say that they were playing the perfect team to improve that record to 2-28 when trailing by multiple goals in a game. Two brutal turnovers led to second-period goals for the Devils before they took a 3-2 lead early in the third period. Boston tied the game on Pastrnak's second goal of the game, but New Jersey won the game in overtime when Paul Cotter scored his eighth goal of the season with 6.2 seconds left in overtime on a breakaway for a 4-3 win.
New Jersey is not going to make the playoffs, and simply put, if you want to make the postseason, if you're the Bruins, then you need to put away the Devils and leave with two points. The loss dropped Marco Sturm's crew to 12-14-6 away from the TD Garden. Playing below .500 hockey on the road will not get Boston to the playoffs. They have a chance to rebound on Tuesday night against the Montreal Canadiens on the road, but they lost an extra point on Monday night when they should have left with a precious second point instead of one.