In this latest installment of Boston Bruins News & Rumors, the red-hot Bruins set another NHL record. In other news, Linus Ullmark achieved another notable milestone on Tuesday (April 11) against the Washington Capitals. Meanwhile, Pavel Zacha was named the winner of NESN’s 7th Player Award for the 2022-23 season.
Bruins Set All-Time Single-Season Points Record
The Bruins’ 2022-23 season has been simply magical. On Sunday (April 9) against the Philadelphia Flyers, they set a new NHL record with their 63rd win of the season. That was already excellent enough, but with their 5-2 victory against the Capitals, they have set the all-time single-season points record by reaching 133 points. The 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens were the previous record holders.
This is just another remarkable achievement from a Bruins team that many wrote off before the start of the season. Although there was an understandable concern when Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, and Matt Grzelcyk started the year sidelined, the Bruins not only stayed afloat but managed to put together the best regular season in NHL history.
The Bruins also recorded their 34th home win of the season against the Capitals, which is another franchise record for them. This is not surprising in the slightest, as they have been lethal at home this year.
Ullmark Ties Bruins Record
A major reason for the Bruins’ immense success this season has been the sensational play of Ullmark. Now, he has found his way into the Bruins’ record book because of it. With the Bruins’ victory against the Capitals, Ullmark recorded his 40th win of the season and tied Pete Peeters for the most wins in a single season. Peeters accomplished this same feat during the 1982-83 season.
In 49 appearances on the year, Ullmark has put together a ridiculous 40-6-1 record, 1.89 goals-against average (GAA), and .938 save percentage (SV%). With numbers like these, he is the clear favorite to win the Vezina Trophy this campaign, and he has earned it. This is likely where Ullmark’s regular season stats will end, however, as he left Tuesday’s contest early after tweaking something. Thankfully, Montgomery also noted that pulling him was “just precautionary” and that Ullmark is “gonna be fine.”
Zacha Wins NESN’s 7th Player Award
The Bruins had several worthy candidates for the 2022-23 NESN’s 7th Player Award. Some candidates included Nick Foligno, Trent Frederic, Connor Clifton, and A.J. Greer. However, Zacha ended up being the winner of the award.
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When the Bruins acquired Zacha from the New Jersey Devils this past offseason, there was optimism that the change of scenery would benefit him. It has done just that, as he has set new career highs with 21 goals, 36 assists, and 57 points in 81 games played. He has been another notable reason for the Bruins’ success this season and has emerged as a legitimate top-six forward in the process. Thus, it is hard to argue against him being this year’s 7th Player Award winner.
David Krejci Shut Down for Regular Season
David Krejci has not played since April 1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins due to a lingering lower-body injury. Now, it has been confirmed by head coach Jim Montgomery that the veteran center has been shut down for the remainder of the regular season. Montgomery also noted that they are optimistic that Krejci could be good to go for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Bruins missed Krejci immensely during the 2021-22 season, and they have been far better with him as their second-line center this year. After spending a year overseas, there was concern that the 36-year-old would have trouble adjusting to the NHL again. Yet, that has been far from the case, as he has ended the regular season with 16 goals, 56 points, and a plus-23 rating in 70 games. Here’s to hoping that he is good to go for the start of the playoffs.
Bruins Looking for 65th Win of the Season
The Bruins play their regular season finale on Thursday (April 13) against the Montreal Canadiens. With this being the final game of the year and the Bruins already setting several new records, we should expect to see some of their regulars scratched. However, even with this being the case, there’s no question that the Bruins would love to be the first team ever to record 65 wins in a season.
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The Bruins are a significantly better team than the Canadiens, so this is certainly a winnable game for them. It would be great for them to head into the playoffs sporting an eight-game winning streak, but we will need to wait and see if they can defeat their biggest rival.
