Boston Bruins secure NHL record for single-season victories

[Brewin Flames]

Boston Bruins secure NHL record for single-season victories

 

The Boston Bruins have set a new NHL single-season record with 63 wins, defeating the Flyers 5-3 on Sunday at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center.

Bruins forward David Pastrnak tallied a hat trick to give him 60 goals on the season, second only to Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid (64).

"It's been a lot of fun, I'm not going to lie," Pastrnak said of the season. "It's been enjoyable, especially the group we have here. We obviously knew the stakes, and it's definitely special to hit it in a game like this. Made history today in the biggest league in hockey."

 

 

The Bruins entered the game tied in wins with the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning. They ended the game as the first team in NHL history to post 63 victories in a single regular season.

"They had some people out," Flyers coach John Tortorella said. "But still that's a really good hockey team."

 

Boston now has 131 points on the season, within reach of the all-time single-season record of 132 points held by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins will finish with a home game Tuesday against the Washington Capitals and a road tilt Thursday against -- potentially quite poetically -- the Canadiens.

 

"I think they grasp [the moment], because we're talking about the history of the NHL and how long this league has been here," Boston coach Jim Montgomery said on Saturday. "I think they grasp it, like when [Wayne] Gretzky broke [Gordie] Howe's record. Our group is aware of what we're doing as a team."

 

Boston has dominated the 2022-23 NHL season from start to finish. It has clinched the Presidents' Trophy with the league's best record -- and with it home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

 

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the Bruins are the fourth team in the NHL's modern era to sit atop its division standings for the entire season, joining the 2008-09 San Jose Sharks, 1984-85 Oilers and 1977-78 Canadiens.

 

The Bruins set NHL records for the fastest team to 50 wins (64 games) and 100 points (61 games), as well.

 

Rather than coast into the postseason, Montgomery and his players have emphasized that breaking those regular-season records was a meaningful goal before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin on April 17.

"Being able to stay focused and learn how to win when chasing records is the closest thing you can do when you're having a season like us to prepare for the playoffs," Montgomery said.

 

Boston faced the Flyers less than 24 hours after defeating the New Jersey Devils at home Saturday night. The Bruins iced a depleted lineup, missing centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, winger Taylor Hall and defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Dmitry Orlov.

Center Charlie Coyle got the scoring going just 47 seconds into the contest, firing a one-timer on a pass from defenseman Connor Carrick past Philadelphia goalie Felix Sandstrom.

 

The Flyers answered back with an unassisted goal from Wade Allison only 17 seconds later, on a miscue from Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who rallied to post 34 saves in the win.

 

"It's hard to win in this league and there's a reason why this record is at 62 because not many teams can get there, so it's a special honor," Swayman said. "These guys in this room are more than deserving."

 

Pastrnak broke the tie at 2:04 of the second period then added another goal at 7:31. Joel Farabee's goal at 13:58 of the second off a Bruins turnover cut the lead to 3-2 entering the third period.

 

Pastrnak completed the hat trick 39 seconds into the third. Flyers forward Owen Tippett's goal at 9:06 made things interesting, but center Pavel Zacha scored his 21st of the season to make it 5-3 and send Boston to its history-making victory.

"Anytime you're talking about putting your team's name in the history books of the most wins ever in a regular season, it's special," Montgomery said Sunday.

 

It should be noted that the 1995-96 Red Wings set their regular-season wins record in an era before the overtime shootout eliminated tie games. Detroit had a record of 62 wins, 13 losses and 7 ties. Four of Boston's wins this season came via the shootout.

[JR Ewing]

6 hours ago, Brewin Flames said:

 

It should be noted that the 1995-96 Red Wings set their regular-season wins record in an era before the overtime shootout eliminated tie games. Detroit had a record of 62 wins, 13 losses and 7 ties. Four of Boston's wins this season came via the shootout.

 

There's different of ways to lean with this, and it's really just an update of things I said in 1996, when the Wings had 62 wins.

 

-The Bruins had "only" 53 regulation wins, while the the Habs had 60 and the Wings had 59.
-The Bruins did it in an NHL with much more parity and a salary cap, while the Habs did it in an unbalanced league which didn't have a salary cap, but they also didn't have OT in which to win games.

-It's harder to build a dominant team now, so it's a great accomplishment, either way.

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by JR Ewing

[Brewin Flames]

And then.....

 

Panthers author 'stupefying' upset, eliminate Bruins in Game 7

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins, who set new NHL records for regular-season success, have been eliminated in the Stanley Cup playoffs' opening round after a 4-3 Game 7 overtime win by the Florida Panthers on Sunday night.

Winger Carter Verhaeghe's goal 8:35 into overtime sent the Panthers into a wild celebration and left Bruins fans in stunned silence.

 

Florida's Sam Bennett fought hard on the forecheck to move the puck to Verhaeghe. With Matthew Tkachuk screening goalie Jeremy Swayman, Verhaeghe found room to score his second of the series.

 

"It hasn't sunk in yet," said Tkachuk, staring at a postgame score sheet. "The talent they have over there in Boston is unbelievable. That we were able to do what we did after what they did all year ... the fact that we were able to beat them in the playoffs is crazy."

 

Florida advances to face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round. The Leafs eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games, winning their first playoff series since 2004.

 

"The way it ended didn't matter. It's just that the season's over. I guess the words that come to mind right now are disappointment and confusion," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said.

 

The Panthers completed their comeback after trailing 3-1 in the series, winning three straight games to eliminate Boston. They rallied to force overtime on a goal by defenseman Brandon Montour with a minute left in regulation.

"We were two minutes away from being in a very sad mood right now," Tkachuk said. "But [Montour] pulled us through. We live to fight another day."

 

The 2022-23 Bruins were the most successful regular-season team in NHL history, setting league records for wins (65) and points (135) in a single season.

 

But with that success came the unique pressure of going wire-to-wire as the NHL's best. As winger Brad Marchand told ESPN in March: "It's not about the regular season. If you win the Presidents' Trophy but you don't win the Cup, nobody cares. That's what we know on this team."

 

To that end, Boston also had to battle the NHL's "Presidents' Trophy Curse," as the best regular-season team historically underwhelms in the postseason. Since the 1985-86 season when the trophy was first awarded, 11 regular-season champs made the Stanley Cup Final with eight of them winning. No Presidents' Trophy winner has advanced to the Stanley Cup Final since the NHL went to the wild card format in 2013-14.

 

 

In the past, Presidents' Trophy winners that didn't find playoff success would point to a lack of adversity in the regular season as one reason. Montgomery downplayed that as a factor but indicated that there was some residual malaise from the easy ride the Bruins had before the playoffs.

 

"I do think our first two games we played, we weren't ready for the intensity of Stanley Cup playoffs, and I think that goes with the regular season," he said. "But by Games 5, 6 and 7, we had dug in. That's where it's a little stupefying."

 

The Bruins join the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning, whose regular-season wins mark Boston surpassed this season, as recent regular-season standings leaders who were eliminated in the playoffs' opening round.

 

Coincidentally, both Panthers general manager Bill Zito and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky were with the Columbus Blue Jackets when they swept that Lightning team in the first round.

 

The Bruins made their boldest coaching decision of the series before Game 7, benching goalie Linus Ullmark in favor of the 24-year-old Swayman.

 

While Boston used both goalies in a regular-season tandem -- Ullmark (40-6-1) played 49 games while Swayman (24-6-4) played 37 games -- Ullmark started the first six games of the series against the Panthers. Although he made a brief appearance in Game 4, Swayman hadn't started a game since the Bruins' season finale at Montreal on April 13.

 

Swayman was loudly cheered by fans at TD Garden during pregame lineup announcements, as the crowd buzzed before Game 7. But the fans soon grew frustrated during the first period, as the Bruins hesitated to take shots on goal and took three minor penalties.

 

The Panthers struck first on a gorgeous give-and-go play in the waning moments of a first-period power play. Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky started the play, setting the puck up for Montour. He raced through the neutral zone and passed to center Anton Lundell, who quickly fed the puck back to Montour as he skated in between all four Bruins penalty killers. His quick backhand flip beat Swayman at 12:23 for the 1-0 lead.

 

Florida made it 2-0 just 1:14 into the second period as Sam Reinhart fired a puck past Swayman from the slot for his fourth of the playoffs.

 

Boston finally got on the board at 7:52 courtesy of its most reliable playoff performer, center David Krejci. With defenseman Marc Staal in the penalty box for tripping, Krejci's shot from the left side beat Bobrovsky.

 

It was his 43rd career playoff goal in 160 career playoff games.

 

The Bruins tied the game on the power play to begin the third period after David Pastrnak drew a roughing penalty on Montour. Forward Tyler Bertuzzi tipped home a shot from defenseman Dmitry Orlov just 55 seconds into the period.

 

Then it was Pastrnak playing the hero at 4:11 of the third. Defenseman Brandon Carlo's shot thumped off Bobrovsky's pads directly to Pastrnak, who scored 61 goals in the regular season. He scored his fifth of the series to give Boston its first lead of Game 7, leaping into the glass in celebration in front of a now-frenzied TD Garden crowd.

 

But that crowd was left stunned when the Panthers tied Game 7 at 3-3 with one minute left in regulation and Bobrovsky pulled. Aleksander Barkov's shot from the top of the zone was blocked by Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron straight to Montour, whose quick shot beat Swayman for his second goal of the night. His teammates mobbed him against the boards, while Panthers players embraced on the bench.

 

Swayman stopped Panthers star Tkachuk on a breakaway early in overtime and had another strong stop on a Verhaeghe chance. But the Panthers found a way to score the winner.

 

"They had a crazy regular season. But the playoffs are completely different. I mean, we had a crazy regular season last year, and it really didn't amount to anything," Verhaeghe said.

 

The Panthers won the Presidents' Trophy last season with 122 points in the standings and lost in the second round to Tampa Bay.

 

The elimination not only ends the Bruins' season but could be the end of an era. Krejci and Bergeron are both unrestricted free agents. Bergeron is in his 19th NHL season, while Krejci has played 16 seasons. Boston players spoke openly about trying to send off the two veterans with a Stanley Cup win.

 

After the handshake line between the teams, the stunned Bruins stood on the ice near their bench. Finally, Bergeron skated to center ice to salute the fans before the players retreated to their locker room.

 

Bergeron, 37, said after the game that he will take some time to determine his next steps. He also revealed he missed the first four games of the series with a herniated disk in his back. The Panthers won all three games Bergeron played in the series.

 

He remained on the ice to embrace his teammates as they left, including his longtime linemate, Marchand.

 

"He's just like the perfect person on or off the ice. Such an incredible leader, so driven, incredible family man, great father and great friend," Marchand said. "I'll forever be grateful for him."