A Look at the Boston Bruins' Historic Pace...and What the Result May Be

You know, I'm used to takes and predictions aging badly. After all, I've usually been the one to disprove said takes and poke holes in them. However, we are all capable of big errors, and I am no exception. After the last NHL season ended, I made my share of predictions. Some are on pace to come true, some...not so much. One take I was certain would be a certainty was this: I said that the Boston Bruins would not make the playoffs in 2022-23. I based that prediction on the fact that the famed Perfection Line (Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak) was seemingly carrying the team, as well as their first round exit in the most recent Stanley Cup Playoffs. Add the fact that Marchand would start this season on the IR, and it seemed like Boston would be on the low end of the Eastern Conference standings.

Fast forward to January 2023, and my prediction is aging worse and worse and worse.

The Bruins have played 46 games. They've won 37 of them. Of the nine games they did lose, five of them were in regulation. Overall, the Bruins have 78 points, leading the Atlantic Division by 12 points over the Toronto Maple Leafs, and leading the entire league by that same amount over the Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes. This comes after the Bruins fired Jack Cassidy as head coach and hired Jim Montgomery, and from what we've seen, it's worked wonders!

As usual, the Perfection Line is leading the way, and the overall leader is David Pastrnak. He is a dynamo, I'm so thankful I have him on fantasy hockey this season. "Pasta" leads the team with 65 points, with 36 of them being goals. Brad Marchand has 44 points (15 G/29 A) in 38 games, and Patrice Bergeron has 37 points (17 G/20 A). The team acquired Pavel Zacha from the New Jersey Devils in the offseason, and he has 30 points this season. The goaltending has been golden this season; Linus Ullmark is on a roll. 25-2-1, a .938 SV%, a 1.82 GAA, and two shutouts. His backup, Jeremy Swayman isn't too bad, either: 11-3-3, 2.26 GAA, .916 SV%, and a shutout. Pastrnak and Ullmark are All-Stars this season, and Montgomery will coach the Atlantic Division squad.

The 2022-23 Boston Bruins are on pace to finish 65-9-8. The team's franchise high in wins was 57 in 1970-71, though that team was ousted in the opening round by the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, the Montréal Canadiens. Overall, they are on pace to break the record in wins and points this season; edging the wins record by three, while the record would give them 138 points, breaking that record by six. Will that equal a Stanley Cup, though? History says it won't.

Let's take a look at the record setting teams, shall we? In chronological order, let's start with the team that set the points record: the 1976-77 Montréal Canadiens. During that season, the Habs went 60-8-12 in an 80-game season, racking up 132 points, which still stands as the points record to this day. Now, that team ended up winning the Stanley Cup; sweeping the St. Louis Blues in the Quarterfinals, winning a six-game Semifinal series over the New York Islanders, and sweeping the Chicago Blackhawks in the Final. The 1976-77 Canadiens' 60 wins stood as the NHL record for 19 years, until the Detroit Red Wings won 62 games in 1995-96. The Wings went 62-13-7, setting the wins record, but finishing one point shy of the points record. A Cup was expected, but they ended up ousted in that year's Western Conference Final by the eventual Cup Champions, the Colorado Avalanche.

And then there's the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning. They ended up tying the wins record, but they finished four points shy of the overall record. Despite being heavily favored, and I mean heavily favored, to win the Cup that year, the Bolts were on the receiving end of the most embarrassing upset in league history. They were swept out of the opening round by the Columbus Blue Jackets, who (at that time) were the only team to have never won a playoff series. So history says that if the Bruins do finish with the best record in NHL history, a Cup is not a foregone conclusion. Though, you never know. In any event, this Bruins season has been quite fun to witness, and the latter half of the season will determine if they do live up to their historic pace.