Uh, I think so…well, partly. The Boston Bruins just set another NHL record for being the 4th team in history to reach 60 wins, but will they be able to set the all-time points and wins record?
Obviously, this is the greatest single-season regular season any Boston Bruins fan has ever seen, let alone one in modern NHL history.
I should honestly be calling this team the “Record-Breakers” as they’ve literally broke every single team record in franchise history, while also snatching up some of the most impressive NHL single-season records too.
This Bruins team currently is the record holder of the fastest to 50 wins, the fastest to 100 points, a franchise-record 125 points (which is impressive considering the team is almost 100 years old and an Original 6 member of the league), record of 12 straight home wins to start off a season, currently has the highest single-season points percentage (.812%) in the salary cap era/modern era of the NHL (2005/06), and are currently on pace to tie the most road wins in a season (31) record held by the 2005/06 Red Wings.
That’s a lot of records, but the two biggest still remain: the single-season all-time NHL team wins record and the points record. And the Bruins have the chance to snatch both.
So, as I mentioned, I think the Bruins have a huge chance of winning at the NHL all-time wins record as they not only have five games left to do so, but they also are playing against three sub .500 teams in that stretch.
In the Bruins last five games, they have to face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs (at TD Garden), the New Jersey Devils (at TD garden), the Philadelphia Flyers (in Philly), the Washington Capitals (at TD Garden), and archrivals Montreal Canadiens (in Montreal) to close out their season.
Yes, the Maple Leafs and the Devils are two quality playoff teams (both currently sit in 2nd in their, respective, divisions), but this is a winnable schedule for a team looking to win out. And especially for this Bruins team as they’ve only lost 12 regulations games all year long…which is nine less than what both the Maple Leafs and Devils (both sit on 21 regulation losses) have done thus far.
Nevertheless, the Bruins clinching the all-time wins record does not hinge on them beating these opponents as they only have to defeat the Capitals, Flyers, and Canadiens to break the record.
As of me writing this article, the Flyers, Capitals, and Canadiens not only all are outside the Eastern Conference’s playoff line, but they also all have .500 or worse records. The Flyers sit 7th in the Metropolitan Division with record of 29-34-1, the Montreal Canadiens sit 8th (dead last) in the Atlantic Division with a record of 20-41-6, and the Washington Capitals sit in 6th place in the Metro with a record of 34-34-9.
The Bruins only need to beat these three teams to snatch the 62-win record set by the 1995/96 Detroit Red Wings and the 2018/19 Tampa Bay Lightning, let alone also beating the Maple Leafs and the Devils. In fact, if the Bruins continue their 10/11 game-winning streak, then they’d either finish with a new record of 64 or 65 wins.
Even though the Bruins have had a few hiccups against the lottery NHL teams this year, this is the record I feel most confident they’ll break.
As for the all-time points record, that’s going to be much more difficult.
The 1976/77 Montreal Canadiens currently possess the NHL single-season all-time points record with 132 points in the 80 games they played that year. With the Bruins currently on 125 points, they’d have to win at least 4 of their next five games or win three of their next five and lose one in regulation to tie the record.
Losing two games, or dropping just three of their next 10 potential points, would knock them out of the running, forcing them to essentially win out just to break the points record by 1. So, I definitely think they can do so and become the new all-time points leader with either 133, 134 or 135 points, but it’s much harder than the wins record.
Still, imagine the scenes of the Boston Bruins fending off a hungry, relentless Montreal Canadiens team to be crowned the new NHL single-season all-time wins and points record holder, knocking off the 1976/77 Canadiens from their perch…in Montreal.
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