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Talking Points: Bruins Beat Devils 2-1; Tie NHL Win Record

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1 year ago

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BOSTON – The 2022-23 Boston Bruins are now tied for the most wins ever in an NHL regular season.

With a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night, the Bruins got their 62nd win of the season and joined the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning as the three-winningest teams in an NHL regular season.

They can hold the record on their own with a win in one of their final three games of the season starting Sunday night in Philadelphia against the Flyers.

GOLD STAR: This puck scribe found it rather comical that there was nothing but crickets from the delusional New Jersey Devils fans that came after yours truly following the Pavel Zacha for Erik Haula trade last summer and for much of this season. I was adamant that the trade would prove to be a steal for Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, and well, so far Zacha has made me look like a genius.

Zacha already had a career-high in points (53) entering this game, and now he has a career-high in goals as he hit the 20-goal mark for the first time with a two-goal performance Saturday. Zacha has been more of a playmaker this season despite an effort to shoot more, but on Saturday he had three shots and two of them beat Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood. Zacha’s first goal was off a tip on a Hampus Lindholm shot on the Bruins’ first powerplay of the game two minutes into regulation.

The second Zacha goal was a backhander rebound off a David Pastrnak shot.

 

BLACK EYE: While it makes total sense that the Boston Bruins aren’t taking any chances with David Krejci’s apparent muscle injury he’s dealing with, the way head coach Jim Montgomery has described the injury has been troublesome.

Krech has got some real soreness right now,” the Boston Bruins bench boss said. “So we want to make sure everyone’s feeling really good. When you have some soft tissue and some stuff, you don’t want it to get to a point where it’s chronic.”

After missing Sunday night’s game against the Flyers in Philadelphia, Krejci will have missed four-straight games. It’s highly unlikely he will be in the lineup for any of the Bruins’ final two games on Tuesday (vs Washington Capitals), or on Thursday against the Canadiens in Montreal. Bruins fans may not want to think about it, but thi could be an injury that either drags into the Stanley Cup Playoffs or acts up again during the postseason.

TURNING POINT: Despite out-shooting the Devils 32-21 in the first two periods, the Boston Bruins still entered the third period with just a one-goal lead. That’s why killing off a four-minute double-minor for hooking on Charlie McAvoy is our BHN turning point. That basically took the wind out of the collective sails of the Devils and gave the Bruins penalty kill 34 straight kills.

HONORABLE MENTION: With Krejci out of the lineup, Boston Bruins winger Tyler Bertuzzi has been riding shotgun on the left wing of the second line with Zacha and Pastrnak. Bertuzzi, like so many Bruins players this season, has made a seamless transition into his new role, and with two assists on Saturday, he now has two goals and three assists in his last five games.

BY THE NUMBERS: 62 – As in a record-setting 62 wins for the 2022-23 Boston Bruins.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “It feels great. Especially the way we won the game. We played Bruins hockey for 60 minutes. Our penalty kill again was excellent; the powerplay – the one we had – was excellent, and our 5-on-5 play was excellent.” – Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery on how he felt after his team tied the NHL record for most wins in a regular season.

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