The Boston Bruins are on the brink of breaking the NHL wins record and openly embracing the challenge.
“I think it’s an incredible accomplishment,” forward Taylor Hall said after the Bruins secured their 62nd win of the season on Saturday night, tying an NHL record. “And it’s OK to say that.”
Pavel Zacha scored twice within the first five minutes, and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins held on to defeat the New Jersey Devils 2-1. This was their fifth consecutive win and their 12th in the last 13 games.
With three games remaining, Boston can surpass the regular-season wins record set by the 1995-96 Red Wings and matched by the 2018-19 Lightning. While those teams didn’t capture the Stanley Cup, the Bruins maintain that their ultimate goal is the championship.
However, coach Jim Montgomery emphasized that aiming to win their remaining games will help keep the team sharp for what they hope will be a long playoff run.
“Anytime you’re talking about putting your team’s name — and our ‘Spoked B’ — in the history books for the most wins ever in a regular season, it’s special,” he said. “Our regular season has been great, but we need to win our last game of the season. That’s what we’re building towards.”
The Bruins have already secured their third Presidents’ Trophy since 2014, earning the No. 1 seed in the postseason. They also have 129 points, with a chance to break the record of 132 set by the 1976-77 Canadiens, who played an 80-game season without earning points for overtime or shootout wins.
Their first opportunity to break the wins record will be in Philadelphia on Sunday. They will then play home games against Washington on Tuesday and Montreal on Thursday.
“You’ve got to recharge and reload for tomorrow’s game. Because there are no freebies,” said Linus Ullmark, who made 29 saves. We’re happy with this achievement, but there’s a new day tomorrow.”
Jesper Bratt scored, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 38 saves for the Devils, one point behind Carolina and two ahead of the Rangers in the Metropolitan Division race. Jack Hughes assisted on the goal, tying Patrik Eliáš’s franchise record with 96 points for the season.
The Devils incurred an early penalty when Ryan Graves was called for tripping Brad Marchand. Zacha deflected a shot from Hampus Lindholm into the net a minute into the power play. Zacha scored five minutes later, backhanding a rebound off Blackwood’s pads to make it 2-0.
The Devils quickly responded, cutting the deficit to 2-1 when a turnover left Bratt alone against Ullmark. New Jersey had another breakaway in the second period, but Ullmark stopped two attempts by Hughes and a rebound shot by Yegor Sharangovich.
The Bruins killed a double-minor penalty spanned the second and third periods.
Blackwood denied David Pastrnak on a second-period breakaway, and Pastrnak’s wraparound attempt on an empty net in the final seconds was cleared off the goal line by Nico Hischier.
UP NEXT
- Devils: They host Buffalo on Tuesday night in their home finale.
- Bruins: They face the Flyers on Sunday night in the penultimate road game of the season.
