The big concern about the Boston Bruins entering the season was how far back they might be by the time injured Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy returned to the lineup.
Instead, the Bruins were 6-1 when Marchand came back on Oct. 27 and 11-2 when McAvoy made his season debut on Nov. 10.
The Bruins built from there, and on Sunday, they set an NHL record of 63 wins in a season. David Pastrnak scored a hat trick as Boston defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 despite sitting out six regulars.
The previous record of 62 was set by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and matched by the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning.
CONNOR BEDARD WATCH: Which NHL team has best odds to draft generational talent?
The record seemed just a matter of time. Boston set the record for fastest to 100 points on March 2 then the fastest to 50 wins 10 days later, the same day they clinched a playoff berth. They clinched the Presidents’ Trophy as the top regular-season team on March 30. They have 131 points, one shy of the record-setting 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens with two games to go.
Here’s how the Bruins did it:
Offseason moves
The biggest move was firing coach Bruce Cassidy and bringing in Jim Montgomery. Cassidy wasn’t necessarily the problem, as evidenced by his leading the Vegas Golden Knights back to the playoffs. But Montgomery gave the Bruins a new voice and had been considered a coach on the rise since he joined the St. Louis Blues as an assistant after being fired by the Dallas Stars and entering rehab.
The biggest player personnel moves were captain Patrice Bergeron re-signing for one year and David Krejci returning from a one-year stay in the Czech Republic. The Bruins had an impressive 1-2 punch at center again after searching for a No. 2 center last season. Speaking of Czechs, Boston won the Pavel Zacha-Erik Haula trade with the New Jersey Devils and signed Zacha to a four-year extension. He scored two goals against his former team Saturday as the Bruins tied the wins record and had a goal and an assist on Sunday.
David Pastrnak and Hampus Lindholm
Pastrnak boosted the offense in Marchand’s absence and Lindholm helped the Bruins weather the absence of McAvoy. Pastrnak had 17 points in nine games in October and has kept it going. He’s the Bruins’ first 50-goal scorer since Cam Neely in 1993-94, their first 60-goal scorer since Phil Esposito in the 1970s and their second 100-point scorer since Joe Thornton in 2003-04. If Edmonton’s Connor McDavid weren’t having such a spectacular season, Pastrnak would be a front-runner for the Hart Trophy. Lindholm had been signed to an eight-year extension after he was acquired in a trade last season, and the Bruins rewarded Pastrnak on March 2 with an eight-year, $90 million extension.
Goaltending tandem
Goaltenders Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman split time evenly last season but had that routine disrupted by the short-lived return of Tuukka Rask. But this year, the net has been all theirs. The Athletic reported that a small tweak by goalie coach Bob Essensa helped Ullmark reach elite status as a Vezina Trophy front-runner. Ullmark got most of the starts early in the season, but they have mostly alternated games since Christmas. Ullmark has a league-best 39 wins and Swayman has 23. They have only six losses a apiece. Their enthusiastic greeting of each other after each win shows that they’re great teammates.
Aggressive in-season moves
The Bruins weren’t content with their strong season. They added to their physical play by acquiring defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forwards Garnet Hathaway and Tyler Bertuzzi. The first two were acquired from the Washington Capitals and the Bertuzzi move was made because of injuries to Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno. Orlov has chipped in offense, with 15 points in 21 games after getting 19 points in 43 games with the Capitals. Hall returned Saturday, and the Bruins will enter next week’s playoffs as the league’s deepest team.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boston Bruins break NHL record for most wins in a season
