Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the 2022-23 Boston Bruins have made history.
The Black and Gold punctuated their record-setting regular season with their 133rd point on Tuesday night, leapfrogging the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens.
“We’re in elite company,” head coach Jim Montgomery said following another historic Boston win.
After 30 minutes without a single tally, the Bruins’ power play continued its recent production to break the ice. Brad Marchand buried David Pastrnak’s feed on a second-period man advantage to end a 16-game goal drought.
Boston’s power play continued to produce in the middle frame. Tyler Bertuzzi cleaned up the loose change in front to collect his fourth goal as a Bruin.
The Capitals got one back just 1:07 later. A funky bounce off Charlie McAvoy’s right leg brought Washington back within one with 4:33 to go in the second period.
The two sides went back and forth in the third period. Tomas Nosek notched the 100th point of his career to make it 3-1 at 4:13. Tom Wilson answered exactly three minutes later with a man-advantage tally.
Garnet Hathaway buried Nosek’s two-on-one feed 36 seconds later to regain a two-goal lead for Boston.
Linus Ullmark left the game midway through the third period. Jeremy Swayman filled in for the final 9:39, stopping all six shots he faced to secure Ullmark”s 40th win of the season.
“It was just a precaution,” Montgomery said regarding Ullmark’s exit. “He’s going to be fine.”
Marchand fed Jake DeBrusk for the empty netter to ice the 5-2 victory.
Here’s what we learned as the Bruins solidified their regular season as one of the greatest of all time.
The Bruins make their final piece of history.
In a historic regular season, the Bruins may have just written their final chapter.
After resetting the record books with their 63rd win of the season Sunday, the Black and Gold had one final hill to climb: the all-time single-season points record.
Call it a meaningless regular season record. Call it consolation for the 1977 Stanley Cup Final 46 years after the fact. It’s only fitting that the Bruins made their final piece of history on home ice, where they’ve been so dominant this season.
“When I think of all the Hall of Famers on those [70s Canadiens] teams, and then Scotty Bowman behind the bench…it’s significant,” Montgomery said. “Those were dominant, dominant hockey teams.”
The 2022-23 Bruins now sit alone in the regular season record books. But the Bruins know that any amount of regular season is secondary to their ultimate goal of ending their 12-year Stanley Cup drought.
“We’re happy about it now, don’t get me wrong. But, you know, it’s a regular season record,” Marchand said. “Playoffs start, and everything starts all over again. There’s gonna be 16 teams that have the same goal in mind. What we’ve accomplished so far has no bearing on that.”
Marchand finally snaps his goal drought.
It had been over a month since Marchand had last lit the lamp. It had been almost two weeks since he tallied a point. Marchand’s early return from hip surgery and rehab-filled offseason seemed to have caught up to him.
Throughout the year, Marchand managed to produce despite self-admittedly not feeling 100 percent. He had hit a wall in the last month. But for Marchand, the team’s continued success provided a great sense of security during his offensive struggles.
“I think it gets frustrating, but then it gets to a point where, you know, it’s just laughable,” Marchand said. “You can’t take it too serious, and I think that’s what it got to…if we were losing a bunch of games and those goals were needed, then I’d feel much more pressure on that.”
With his 17-game goal drought in the rear-view mirror, Marchand can continue to build his game ahead of the playoff push.
“I think for any really talented offensive player in this league, getting one, putting one in the net, it really gives you a little extra jump in your step,” Montgomery said.
It was only appropriate for Marchand to end his goal drought while simultaneously helping a struggling man-advantage unit return to form.
The power play is back on track.
Boston’s power play seemed to have hit rock bottom after a 0-for-5 performance against the Nashville Predators. Two weeks have passed since then, and the Bruins’ last regulation loss may have been just that for the man advantage: rock bottom.
After some personnel tinkering, the power play has begun to produce once again. Over the last six games, Boston’s power play has gone 6-for-13, with a perfect 2-for-2 outing Tuesday night.
“I have zero concerns about our power play,” Montgomery said. “I don’t know what we are in our last eight to 10 days, but I would guess it’s around 30 percent.”
The makeshift top unit that sparked Boston’s initial power play momentum two weeks ago has paved the way for a return to personnel normalcy. The first unit of Marchand, Bergeron, Pastrnak, DeBrusk and Hampus Lindholm looked like its early season-self, along with some help from Bertuzzi.
In addition to DeBrusk, Bertuzzi has added another layer to Boston’s man advantage. The former Detroit Red Wing continues to showcase his skillset along the front of the net, tallying 15 points in 20 games during his time in a middle-six role with the Bruins.
“That goal is [Bertuzzi] screening the goalie, the puck hits his pad…he slams it home,” Montgomery said. “His stick skills in tight are exceptional.”
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