The NHL Olympic break has concluded. Congratulations to both Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman for helping secure Team USA’s first gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980! The Boston Bruins find themselves tied for seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 32-20-5 record, 69 points, and a +13 goal differential.
The Bruins have two Eastern Conference opponents on tap for this upcoming week –– the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers. Columbus and Philadelphia sit four and eight points behind Boston, respectively, in the conference standings. This will be the Bruins’ first meeting with the Blue Jackets and second with the Flyers this season. Boston topped Philadelphia, 6-3, on Jan. 29 prior to the break.
Boston Bruins’ upcoming schedule for the week of February 24:
- Thursday, February 26 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
- Saturday, February 28 at Philadelphia Flyers
Boston Bruins’ DraftKings Fantasy Preview
Thursday, February 26 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
- The Columbus Blue Jackets are in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division and ninth place in the Eastern Conference with a 29-20-7 record, 65 points, and a +2 goal differential.
- This will be the first of three meetings between these teams. Prior to the Olympic break, Columbus had won 11 of its previous 12 games, while averaging 3.9 goals and allowing 2.2 goals per game. On the season, the Blue Jackets have averaged the 17th-most goals and allowed the 14th-most goals per game. When playing at 5-on-5, the club ranks 12th in 5v5 goals per 60 and 13th in 5v5 xGoals%. Columbus has drawn the fourth-fewest penalties per 60, which has resulted in limited opportunities for its power play unit, which ranks 17th in the NHL in PP%.
- Five skaters have notched at least 30 points on the season, with the leading point-getter, Zach Werenski (20G, 42A), on pace for a career-best season. Werenski has averaged 14.4 DraftKings fantasy points per game (DK FPTS), and he ranks second in both goals and points among defensemen. It is worth noting that Werenski just won a gold medal with Team USA, so there’s a chance that he will sit out of this matchup. Kirill Marchenko (19G, 27A) and Charlie Coyle (15G, 27A) round out the top three in terms of leading point-getters.
- The Blue Jackets ended their pre-Olympic break run with a shutout from each of their goaltenders, Jet Greaves (2.62 GAA, .910 SV%) and Elvis Merzlikins (3.49 GAA, .888 SV%). Greaves has been very consistent, ranking sixth in the NHL in goals saved above expected and 18th in SV% above expected, while averaging the fifth-most DK FPTS per game among goaltenders (12.6).
Saturday, February 28 at Philadelphia Flyers
- The Philadelphia Flyers are in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division and 13th place in the Eastern Conference with a 25-20-11 record, 61 points, and a -13 goal differential.
- This will be the second of three meetings between Philadelphia and Boston, with the Bruins winning, 6-3, on Jan. 29. It has been a very rough 2026 for the Flyers thus far, with the club posting a 5-8-4 record since Jan. 3. What’s even worse for this team is that it won its first two games of the new year, only to drop the following six consecutive games. On the season, Philadelphia ranks 21st in 5v5 goals per 60, while allowing the 18th-most 5v5 goals against per 60. The club ranks 17th in PK%, which is league-average, but its power play units have struggled mightily, ranking fourth-to-last in PP%. Despite ranking seventh in penalties drawn per 60, the Flyers have scored the second-fewest power play goals in the NHL.
- Philadelphia may be a bit top-heavy, with Travis Konecny (22G, 32A) and Trevor Zegras (20G, 29A), but to have 11 skaters with at least 20 points is a good indication of quality depth play. Despite the club dropping four of its last five games before the break, Konecny still posted nine points during that span. He has averaged 10.6 DK FPTS per game and was not selected to Team Canada for the Olympics, so he will be well-rested.
- Once Dan Vladar (2.47 GAA, .905 SV%) went down with an injury, the club lost certainly its goaltending touch that willed it to victory early on in the season. Vladar has since returned to the lineup and played in the Olympics as well, and the club will surely welcome him back as it had to deal the likes of Samuel Ersson (3.51 GAA, .856 SV%) and Aleksei Kolosov (4.00 GAA, .830 SV%) for most of January.
