Looking back as the Bruins head into the final week of the NHL regular season’s games, few will remember that the Bruins’ first goal of this memorable season was scored by captain Patrice Bergeron, October 12 in the opening game on the road versus the Washington Capitals. Now, 77 games later, and Bergeron has appeared in 74 of them, and thus far this season, he has produced 27 goals/57 points. Those are very respectable numbers, for a 37-year-old playing his 19th season with the Bruins. The captain to date has appeared in 1290 games, scoring 427 goals and assisting on 612, for a points total of 1039, with 5 Selke Awards, given to the ‘Best Defensive Forward,’ an award for which he has been named a finalist for 11 consecutive seasons.
The Bruins are headed for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the captain’s leadership has put them in position to equal or top several NHL records, for both wins and points in a season. Having already secured the President’s Trophy, they have recorded the ‘fastest NHL team to win 50 games and 100 points,’ and have earned home ice advantage throughout the playoffs. The Bs need only two more wins to tie the record for most sins in a single season, and three victories to set the mark with 63 wins, with five games remaining. Regarding their shot at most points in a single season, it needs to be noted that the record of 132 points by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens was recorded in 80 games, and while no victories earned in shootouts. In order to surpass Montreal, the locals need to post eight points of the possible ten available in the final five games. Along with those marks is David Pastrnak having 56 goals, and a chance to hit the 60-goal mark, becoming only the second Bruin to score 60-or-more (Phil Esposito 76 in 1970-71), and join only 22 other players in the NHL who have managed to hit that plateau. Pastrnak’s success was noted by the NHL last week, as he was named ‘NHL’s 3rd Star of the Week,’ ending April 2. Pasta notched points in each of the Bs four games, as the team won three of their four games to hit the 60-win mark.
Interesting to see that the Bruins already have 11 players with double-digit goal scoring numbers: (Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Bergeron, David Krejci, Jake DeBrusk, Pavel Zacha, Hampus Lindholm, Charlie Coyle, Taylor Hall, Trent Frederic, and Nick Foligno. Add to those impressive numbers, the outstanding stats of the Boston goaltending tandem…Linus Ullmark – 38-6-0-1, goals-against-average 1.90/save-percentage .937, and partner in crime, Jeremy Swayman with a record of 21-6-0-4, goals-against-average 2.24 with a save-percentage .919. The five games remaining on the regular season schedule have Boston hosting: Thursday, 7:00pm (tonight), the Toronto Maple Leafs; Saturday, 8:00pm the New Jersey Devils; then on the road to play the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, 6:00pm; returning to TD Garden ice to host the Washington Capitals Tuesday, 7:00pm, in the final home game for the Bruins, and back on the road for the regular season finale against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, at 7:00pm at the Bell Centre. Should be a very interesting finish to the season with these five-game remaining on the schedule. NHL playoffs are tentatively scheduled to begin on Monday, April 17.