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The 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning have company.
On Saturday night, the Boston Bruins earned their 62nd win of the 2022-23 season, tying the NHL single-season mark. Now they need just one victory in their next three games to stand alone in the record books.
“Any time you’re talking about putting your team’s name and putting our ‘Spoked B’ in the history book for the most wins in the regular season is special,” head coach Jim Montgomery said.
On Saturday, they faced the toughest test of their remaining regular season tilts.
With the Carolina Hurricanes dropping a 4-3 decision in Buffalo earlier in the day, the New Jersey Devils entered TD Garden with a chance to take over first place in the Metropolitan Division. But their ascension to the top of the Metro will have to wait.
Former Devil Pavel Zacha struck twice to give Boston a quick 2-0 lead 4:44 in. The Czech center, filling in for the injured David Krejci, notched a tip on the power-play at two minutes and followed with a bounce off the boards for his 20th of the season just 2:44 later.
Jesper Bratt cut the New Jersey deficit to 2-1 with a nifty breakaway tally. That marked Linus Ullmark’s lone blemish of the evening.
The Swede delivered another Vezina-caliber performance in his goaltending duel with Mackenzie Blackwood (38 saves), stopping all but one of the 30 shots he faced.
Here’s what we learned from Boston’s record-tying triumph in front of a rowdy Causeway Street faithful.
“I told them congratulations,” Montgomery said. “Incredible feat, and tomorrow we have an opportunity in Philly to set the record for wins.”
Montgomery didn’t have to say much to his players after their 62nd win.
The Bruins may have publicly dodged a few questions about their record-setting pace earlier in the year. But as that magic number approached, they began to share a bit more insight into the potential historic accomplishment.
Within the locker room, however, the tight-knit B’s fully embraced the historical significance, not for the impressive individual accomplishments — like Wayne Gretzky surpassing Gordie Howe’s goals and points records — but rather from a team perspective.
