The Boston Bruins entered the 2022-23 NHL season with modest expectations. The team amassed 107 points last season, before bowing out in the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. During the summer, the Bruins fired head coach Bruce Cassidy and replaced him with Jim Montgomery. Caesars Sportsbook gave them 25-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup, and we ranked them 14th in our preseason Power Rankings.
Then the season began, and the Bruins have been authoring one of the greatest regular seasons in the modern, salary cap era (since 2005-06).
The Bruins have skated to a 65-12-5 record, good for 135 points (an NHL record) and an .823 points percentage. They became just the fourth team to win 60 games, and set the record for wins in a season.
Wins: 65
The Bruins finished the season with an NHL-record 65 wins, passing the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings (who finished 62-13-7) and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning (62-16-4) for most wins in a season. Neither of those teams won the Stanley Cup in its respective record-setting season, as the Red Wings lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference finals, and the Lightning were swept in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Points: 135
The Bruins passed the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens (132 points) for most points in a season with a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals in their 81st game. The Canadiens set that mark in an 80-game season and won the Cup -- over the Bruins.
Goal differential: +128
The Bruins' goal differential is 62 goals better than the second-best team (Stars at plus-66). The 1976-77 Canadiens at plus-216. hold the NHL record at plus-216.
Team save percentage: .931
Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman are one of the NHL's best goaltending duos, and along with a 30-of-31 game by Keith Kinkaid, the group has generated the league's best team save percentage, ahead of the New York Islanders, at .921. Though not an official league record, the best mark for a team in a single season is .934, set by the 1968-69 St. Louis Blues.
Goals against per game: 2.12
All of those saves have resulted in not many goals for Bruins opponents. Their mark of 2.12 goals against per game is well ahead of the second place Carolina Hurricanes (2.55). The post-1967 expansion record for lowest goals-against average in a season is 1.89, held by the 2011-12 Blues.
David Pastrnak
The 26-year-old winger is second in the NHL with 61 goals, and is fourth with 113 points. He's just the second Bruin to score 60 goals in a season, with Phil Esposito doing it four times. The 61 goals ties for the fourth most in a season in Bruins history.
Linus Ullmark
By notching his 25th win of the season in his 28th game, Ullmark broke the NHL record for fewest number of games to reach that victory benchmark. He leads the league in wins (40), goals-against average (1.89) and save percentage (.938). The single-season NHL record for wins (48, by Braden Holtby in 2015-16) is in play. The modern-era record for GAA is 1.56 (Brian Elliott, 2011-12) and for save percentage is .940 (also by Elliott in 2011-12). For good measure, Ullmark scored a goal in Boston's 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 25.
Bruins' upcoming games
+Round 1 of the playoffs: Bruins vs. Panthers, TBD