If the Bruins season feels like a dream, its because it kind of has been.
Anything that could be accomplished as a team, the Bruins have done it. All season long.
Fastest team to 100 points. Check. Fastest to 50 wins. Check. President’s trophy as the league’s top team. Yeah, that too.
And after a 5-3 win on Broad Street over the Philadelphia Flyers the Bruins have set an NHL single season record for wins with 63.
To make the night even more special, David Pastrnak continued his storybook season with a hat trick giving him 60 goals on the season.
The Bruins now have 131 points, one shy of the record-setting 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens with two games to go.
“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 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 won despite playing shorthanded with a handful of key absences. Patrice Bergeron, Taylor Hall, Charlie McAvoy, and David Krejci all sat out along with Nick Foligno and Derek Forbort who are both on long term IR.
Stars of the Game
David Pastrnak
I mean, duh! Pastrnak accounted for nearly all of the Bruins offense, scoring 3 goals and assisting on another. The 26-year-old became the first Bruins player since Phil Esposito (61, 1974-75) to score 60 goals in a single season.
? 15TH CAREER HAT TRICK
? 60TH GOAL OF THE SEASON
? 300TH CAREER GOAL pic.twitter.com/FviyDjCqfx
— p – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 10, 2023
Tyer Bertuzzi
Head coach Jim Montgomery is going to have a decision to make when David Krejci returns because the Bruins second line with Bertuzzi, Pavel Zacha and Pastrnak has been fire. Bertuzzi had helpers on the night setting up David Pastrnak twice and adding a secondary assist on the goal By Zacha.
Pavel Zacha
Zacha who scored twice in Saturday night’s win over his former club the New Jersey Devils, added one more on Sunday giving the Bruins a 2 goal cushion late in the third.
For the Record
It should be noted that the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings set their regular-season wins record in an era in before the overtime shootout eliminated tie games. Detroit had a record of 62 wins, 13 losses and 7 ties. Four of Boston’s wins so fat this season have come via the shootout.
