Where Bruins stand in playoff race at important Thanksgiving milestone

It's been a challenging first seven weeks of the season for the Boston Bruins. There's massive room for improvement in so many areas.

The B's score 2.38 goals per game, the third-lowest average in the league. They allow 3.13 goals per game, which ranks 19th. Jeremy Swayman has been a top-10 goalie throughout his career. He's played well below that level so far.

The special teams need major work, too. The power play is the worst in the league with a 12.4 percent success rate. The penalty kill ranks 21st with a 77.5 percent success rate. Many of the Bruins' best players, including the big-ticket offseason signings Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov, have largely underperformed.

But despite all of these issues, the Bruins are firmly in the Eastern Conference playoff mix on Nov. 28 after beating the New York Islanders 6-3 on the road Wednesday night.

The victory improved the Bruins' record to 11-10-3 and moved them into third place in the Atlantic Division. Boston, after winning three of its last four games, is just three points behind the first-place Toronto Maple Leafs.

Why does this date on the calendar matter? Well, it's important to be in a playoff spot by U.S. Thanksgiving, which is Thursday. Most teams -- especially in recent years -- that are in a playoff position by this date typically get in when the regular season concludes in April.

There have been nine normal 82-game seasons with a regular playoff format since the 2012-13 lockout-shortened campaign. The 2019-20 and 2020-21 regular seasons and playoffs had a different format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the nine normal seasons during this span, 77 percent (111 of 144) of teams in a playoff spot by Thanksgiving ended up making the postseason. Below is a year-by-year breakdown of how many of the 16 teams ultimately made it:

• 2013-14: 13
• 2014-15: 13
• 2015-16: 12
• 2016-17: 13
• 2017-18: 11
• 2018-19: 11
• 2021-22: 12
• 2022-23: 13
• 2023-24: 13

The Bruins obviously aren't guaranteed to make the playoffs because they're in a postseason spot by Thanksgiving, but with teams earning a point for OT and shootout losses, the B's would really have to collapse to fall far enough in the standings to be completely out of the race in March and April.

The Bruins made a coaching change last week, firing Jim Montgomery and elevating associate coach Joe Sacco to interim head coach. The team has made huge strides defensively in the four games since Sacco took over. The B's have allowed only six goals (one was an empty-netter) during that span. They've also shown improvement offensively, even though goals were pretty hard to come by before the B's scored six against the Islanders.

The Bruins have a 235-197 edge in shot attempts, a 114-81 lead in shots on net, an 105-75 advantage in scoring chances and a 43-22 margin in high-danger chances under Sacco. It's always a good sign when the ice is tilted so heavily in your direction.

It wouldn't be surprising if, at some point in the near future, this group finally gets hot offensively, goes on a run and puts to bed any concerns over whether it will make the playoffs. Maybe the team's victory Wednesday will be the catalyst. And if that happens, it would make sense for general manager Don Sweeney to invest in the roster and make an upgrade or two before the March 7 trade deadline.

Few people expected the Bruins to play so poorly in so many areas by this juncture of the season. But it's not time to panic. The B's are very much in the playoff mix despite how poorly they've played. They're nowhere near the bottom of the standings.

The Bruins' upcoming schedule gives them a great chance to earn a bunch of wins through the end of the calendar year. They play 15 games from now through Dec. 31, and nine of them are against opponents currently outside of the playoff race.

This stretch is an opportunity for the Bruins to improve their on-ice performance, build some confidence individually and as a team, and also solidify their place in the playoff race. It's up to them to seize it.