The Boston Bruins players and staff have been saying for months that they were not trying to break the record for most wins in a season come April. Their focus was on winning the Stanley Cup in June. But try or not, they did it anyway.
Heading into the final week of one of the most remarkable regular seasons ever, the Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-3, on Sunday for their 63rd win, surpassing the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning for most wins in a season.
They did it with their usual flair, too, as David Pastrnak recorded a hat trick to reach 60 goals in the season and 300 in his career. Pastrnak, delighted to reach the mark for the first time, noted that it came in support of a record the Bruins see as merely a prelude to their true ambition.
That is, to become the first team with the best regular season record to win the Stanley Cup since Chicago did it in the 2012-13 season (shortened to 48 games by the lockout), and to avoid the fate of the record-setting Red Wings and Lightning, both of whom lost in the playoffs.
“Obviously, the record is amazing,” Pastrnak told reporters in Philadelphia, “but we are building toward something bigger than the N.H.L. record. That’s our focus.”
The Bruins still have two games remaining in the regular season, so the tally may grow, and it does not seem to matter that they probably will hold some players out of action, to rest them for the approaching postseason.
They had done that in several recent games, allowing tired, older or injured players to recuperate, and they kept winning, despite five straight weeks with back-to-back games each Saturday and Sunday. They won nine of those 10 games.
Since a pair of perplexing losses to the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks in March, the Bruins have captured 13 of their last 14 games, many while resting key players. Patrice Bergeron, Boston’s top center, played only three of the last six games. David Krejci, the second-line center, played in just two of the last six and Charlie McAvoy, their top defenseman, missed two of the last four.
All three missed Sunday’s game in Philadelphia, as did the defenseman Dmitry Orlov, who has been a revelation since he was traded to Boston from Washington in February. Taylor Hall, the former Hart Trophy winner, who was eased back into action Saturday against the Devils after missing 20 games with a knee injury, also sat out Sunday’s victory.
“They had some people out,” said John Tortorella, the Flyers coach, “but that’s still a really good hockey team.”
The Flyers are a terrible team, with only 29 wins. But since clinching the top seed for the playoffs, the Bruins have continued to beat good teams, too, teams that have either already qualified for the playoffs or are fighting to make it in. On Thursday they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, the second-best team in their division, and on Saturday they beat the Devils, the second-best team in the Metropolitan Division.
No matter whom they put on the ice, or their opponent, the Bruins usually come out on top, thanks in part to their notable roster depth.
“You take care of each night and each day and that slowly adds up,” said Charlie Coyle, the Bruins center.
Coyle explained the Bruins’ late-season consistency by noting that throughout the year team leaders set benchmarks, carving out slices of the season, like a long road trip, or a particularly difficult stretch of tough opponents, and challenging the group to attain a certain level of success.
He said once they were assured of the top seed and had only a handful of games remaining, they turned to setting the wins record as another worthwhile pursuit and a means of motivation.
“We hope it’s just the beginning,” Coyle said, “but it’s definitely something you can take pride in and it shows what we’ve accomplished this year.”
While this Bruins team has a deep roster — four solid lines and three defensive pairings, each with a formidable point presence in McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm and Orlov — Pastrnak has been the offensive star.
He is four goals behind Edmonton’s Connor McDavid for the league lead, and became only the second Bruin to score at least 60 goals. Phil Esposito did it four times, including 76 goals in 1970-71. It marks the first time since 1995-96 that two players have reached 60 goals in the same season. That year it was the teammates, Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, who had 69 and 62 for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
On Sunday, after Boston fans in Philadelphia tossed hats on the ice to commemorate Pastrnak’s hat trick, the Czech winger recounted how Boston’s Brad Marchand, Pastrnak’s former linemate, told him years ago that he should always aim to score 10 more goals than he thinks he is capable of. Pastrnak indicated that he had seen 50 as attainable.
“So, yeah, I was aiming at 60, but I wasn’t really thinking that I can get there,” he said.
As for the playoffs, which begin April 17, the Bruins still do not know their opponent in the first round. That will be determined this week as four teams — the Panthers, Islanders, Penguins and Sabres — battle for the final two spots. And the Bruins could still set another record in their next two games.
They have 131 points, just one behind the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens for most points in a season. Back then, teams played 80 games and were awarded one point for a tie (the Canadiens went 60-8-12). Now teams play 82 games and get two points for a win in overtime or a shootout win, and one point if they lose in overtime or a shootout.
But winning the most games and earning the most points would seem unfulfilling if the Bruins do not win the Stanley Cup.
“Looking too far ahead, that creates anxiety,” said Jim Montgomery, Boston’s first-year coach. “We believe in staying present. We’re not looking at June. We’re looking at April 17th.”