Bruins top Devils, tie NHL record with 62nd win

The Boston Bruins have tied the NHL’s single-season record with 62 wins, joining the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Bruins matched the milestone Saturday night when Pavel Zacha scored two goals in the first five minutes to propel them to a 2-1 win over the visiting New Jersey Devils. Linus Ullmark stopped 29 shots for Boston, which won its fifth straight and its 12th in 13 tries.

Now that they are on the verge of the NHL wins record, the Bruins aren’t afraid to say they’re going for it.

“I think it’s an incredible accomplishment,” forward Taylor Hall said. “And it’s OK to say that.”

The Bruins — who have already wrapped up the Presidents’ Trophy and home-ice advantage through the Stanley Cup playoffs — have three games remaining in the regular season to become the first team in NHL history to reach 63 wins. Boston plays Philadelphia, Washington and Montreal, all non-playoff teams, before its regular season wraps Thursday.

Coach Jim Montgomery said that trying to win their remaining games can help them stay sharp for what they hope will be a long postseason run.

“Anytime you’re talking about putting your team’s name – and putting our ‘Spoked B’ – in the history books of the most wins ever in a regular season, it’s special,” he said. “Our regular season has been great, but we need to win our last game of the season. And that’s what we’re building towards.”

Consistently throughout the season, Bruins players have said the NHL’s single-season wins record didn’t mean much to them, as the only thing they were chasing is a Stanley Cup. However, Montgomery told ESPN last week that once the record became within reach, he underscored to his team how incredible an accomplishment it would be to do something no team had ever done in the 100-plus year history of the league.

His players appear to be on board.

“You’ve got to recharge, reload for tomorrow’s game as well. Because there’s no freebies,” Ullmark said. “And as happy as we are right now with with this, we can pat ourselves a little bit on the shoulder. But there’s a new day tomorrow.”

The Bruins have led the NHL all season, which was surprising because expectations were tempered following a first-round playoff exit to Carolina last spring. Boston began the season with two of its biggest stars, defenseman Charlie McAvoy and winger Brad Marchand, on injured reserve. The Bruins also underwent a coaching change, turning to Montgomery after six seasons of Bruce Cassidy.

But Boston has been one of the most complete teams in the league, regularly rolling four lines and getting standout goaltending from Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. The Bruins added reinforcements at the trade deadline, acquiring Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway from Washington and Tyler Bertuzzi from Detroit. Boston has also been boosted by a career year from star winger David Pastrnak, whose 57 goals trail only Connor McDavid for the league lead. Pastrnak signed an eight-year, $90 million extension in March.

The Bruins have rallied around winning one more Stanley Cup for their captain, 37-year-old Patrice Bergeron, who opted to come back on a one-year deal this season instead of retiring.

Boston has been the Cup favorite at Caesars Sportsbook since the middle of December. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Bruins are the fourth team in the NHL’s modern era to sit atop its division standings for the entire season, joining the 2008-09 Sharks, 1984-85 Oilers and 1977-78 Canadiens. The Oilers and Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup in those respective years; the Sharks lost in the opening round.

The Bruins also have 129 points and a chance at the record of 132 set by the 1976-77 Canadiens, who played an 80-game season and didn’t earn points for overtime or shootout wins.

–The Associated Press contributed to this report.