NHL
Boston equals record for most wins in a season
Boston’s Linus Ullmark (r) and Jeremy Swayman celebrate their team’s victory. photo
© Michael Dwyer/AP/dpa
The Boston Bruins have equaled the NHL’s record for most wins this season — and three games left to break it. Meanwhile, the battle for the final playoff spots is heating up.
The Boston Bruins are playing what is probably the best season in the history of the league in the North American ice hockey professional league NHL.
The Bruins beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 through two goals from Pavel Zacha to equal an all-time high of 62 wins this season. And they still have three games left to improve on the mark that the Detroit Red Wings (1995-96) and Tampa Bay Lightning (2018-19) also achieved.
“It’s special, without a doubt,” said Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron, who has played all of his 20 years in the world’s top league in Boston, about the record. The Bruins are one of the league’s founding “Original Six” teams, but have only won the Stanley Cup once in the past 50 years – in 2011 with Dennis Seidenberg.
Connor McDavid surpasses the mark of 150 scorers
On the first day of NHL history, on which 16 games were played and all 32 teams were currently in action, Connor McDavid also reached a historic mark. The Edmonton Oilers star struck twice in the 6-1 win over the San Jose Sharks and became the sixth player in NHL history to surpass 150 points in a single season. National player Leon Draisaitl recorded one assist and follows McDavid in the league with 124 points.
Of the currently eight Germans in the NHL, only goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer with the Seattle Kraken is sure to be in the playoffs alongside Draisaitl. Grubauer came on in the final third of the 7-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks and saved all eleven shots on goal. Chicago’s Lukas Reichel scored his seventh goal of the season in the middle third.
In the Eastern Conference, the Buffalo Sabers around John-Jason Peterka got their minimal chances in the fight for one of the two vacant wildcard spots for the playoffs. The Sabers won 4-3 against the Carolina Hurricanes, but direct competitors the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, and Pittsburgh Penguins also had victories. The Sabers must now win all four remaining games of the season – and hope for defeats by the competition.