January 11, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins right winger Anthony Manta (39) skates with the puck in the third quarter of a game against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Natalie Reid-Imagn Images As February turns into March, a big week is underway across the NHL.
The trade deadline is now just days away, but the Boston Bruins are looking to remain in control of their own destiny in a tight playoff race. So a win against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night is next on the agenda.
Despite Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in their last game, the Bruins entered Monday with a two-point lead ahead of the Washington Capitals with three games in hand for the final Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot.
General manager Don Sweeney won’t necessarily be “aggressive” in his approach this year, but last season’s trades (headlined by then-captain Brad Marchand being traded to the Florida Panthers) provide lessons in the right mindset surrounding this time of the year. All David Pastrnak and his team can do is focus on the task at hand.
“It’s out of our control and it’s not in our hands. Anything can happen. Control what you can and focus on staying in the moment,” said Pastrnak, who entered the week as the NHL’s seventh-leading scorer with 72 points. “Last year there was a lot more on everyone’s mind.”
Boston snapped an eight-game point streak (5-0-3) in its loss to Philadelphia, but Charlie McAvoy scored and fellow U.S. Olympian Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves in his first game since winning gold.
“It was very unfortunate because we did a lot of good things,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said of Saturday’s game. “I thought Sway was great, but in the end we couldn’t find another way to score and we didn’t have the presence of mind to go to the net hard, into difficult areas.”
McAvoy has a nine-game point streak (2 goals, 10 assists).
Morgan Geekie, who had numerous Grade A chances blocked by the Flyers’ Dan Vladar, has gone nine consecutive games without a goal.
“It was one of those nights,” said Geekie, who leads the Bruins with 33 goals.
Despite captain Sidney Crosby suffering a lower body injury in the Olympics that will keep him sidelined for at least four weeks, Pittsburgh maintained its position as one of the hottest teams in the NHL.
The Penguins continued their momentum with a 5-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, moving to 2-0-1 since returning from the Olympic break and 16-3-4 in 23 games since Christmas.
“Throughout the year, we saw different people at different times,” Pittsburgh center Ben Kindel said. “And obviously Sid is our best player and the biggest part of our team. But with that, the guys are still going to step up and that’s what we’ve been doing all year. It’s just a testament to the group we have here.”
Five different Penguins scored and four had multiple points against Vegas, with Arthur Silofs making 22 saves en route to his second shutout of the season and fifth win in six games.
Kindel scored the opening and final game-winning goals before adding an assist against Vegas.
Egor Chinakov continued his hot streak by scoring his team-leading 10th goal since joining the Penguins from the Columbus Blue Jackets on January 1st.
“This release is crazy. It’s kind of unique,” Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse said. “I find myself smiling sometimes in practice when he’s shooting the puck. I just thought his work off the puck since he’s been here has been pretty consistent with that.”
Former Bruin Justin Brazo (career-high 16 goals) also had a goal and an assist.
The two teams are scheduled to meet again Sunday in Pittsburgh.
–Field level media
