The Detroit Red Wings set the record for the most wins in and NHL season back in the 1995-96 season totaling 62. The Tampa Bay Lightning ended up tying that record in the 2018-19 season, but went on to exit the playoffs after being swept in the first round by the Blue Jackets. This underachieving season by Tampa Bay has been brought up whenever the Bruins season is discussed in the media. Currently, the B’s sit at 57-12-5 with eight games remaining in the season, leaving only six wins between them and a new record. While the players have profusely stated that they are only focused on the Cup, let’s take a look at their next eight games to see if they can make the history books for the regular season:
Tomorrow night, Boston has their easiest matchup against Columbus, who sit at the bottom of the league. I expect nothing less than a win to shorten the gap between them and the record, and I can honestly say the same thing about every other game in these final eight. That is, aside from the ones against Toronto and New Jersey.
The Bruins are 2-2 in the regular season series against New Jersey and 2-1 against Toronto. New Jersey is neck and neck with Carolina in the race for the Metropolitan title, while Toronto has a five point lead for second place in the Atlantic Division (behind the Bruins). Both teams possess wildly talented rosters that have proven to be a problem against Boston.
In the four games the Devils have faced the Bruins, they have scored an average of 2.5 goals per game, which is .4 higher than the league average per game against Boston. The Leafs are also above that mark, and their leading scorer Austin Matthews has jarred three goals in their three meetings. Thomas Tartar also has three goals for New Jersey while playing against Boston this season. These prolific scorers have demonstrated to be dangerous against this Bruins squad. That being said, they’ve yet to face the full defensive lineup of McAvoy-Lindholm-Orlov that was assembled earlier this month.
If the Bruins can win every game outside of these two matchups, they will set the new record for wins in a season. However, something tells me that they’ll slip up and lose an easy game, so they’ll have to squeak one out against either Toronto or New Jersey for the title. Only time will tell, so stay tuned for an update when the season ones to a close.