It’s quite a flex to decide you’re going to shatter NHL records because, essentially, you’re bored.
But that only underscores how stupidly dominant the Boston Bruins have been this season.
Brad Marchand told me several weeks ago that his team didn’t really care about the NHL single-season records for wins (63) and points (133). “Before this season, if you asked any of the guys on this team who owned any of those records, nobody would know, because nobody cares. Because it’s not about the regular season,” Marchand said. “As soon as somebody brings it up, it’s in one ear and out the other.”
On Sunday, the Bruins set a new wins record. They set a new points record on Tuesday, breaking one established by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. They had already clinched a playoff spot on March 11 and secured the President’s Trophy 19 days later.
Marchand admitted the Bruins started collecting NHL records like Pokémon because they had nothing else better to do before the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“We did set our sights on it for the last little while. We had locked up first. We needed something to play for in the rest of the regular season,” he said Tuesday night. “It’s not our be-all or end-all. We’re happy about it right now, don’t get me wrong. But it’s a regular-season record.”
In other words, to be the best regular-season team of all time means exactly that, and nothing more. The Bruins, to a man, have said that postseason success is the only true validation of their greatness as a team. Other Presidents’ Trophy winners have sought that validation. Few have earned it.
Sports is laden with curses, from the Bambino to video game cover athletes. The Presidents’ Trophy hex is demonstrable: There have been 36 trophy winners; only 11 of them advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, and only eight of those teams hoisted the Cup.
Only three teams in the salary cap era (since 2005-06) have won the Presidents’ Trophy and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. The 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings and the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks won the Cup. The 2010-11 Vancouver Canucks met their demise against the Bruins, who stole their dreams and left them in a smoldering pile.
Since the NHL went to the wild-card format in 2013-14, there hasn’t been a single Presidents’ Trophy winner that has advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. The 2014-15 Rangers lost in the conference final. The 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning famously lost in the first round, swept by the lowest-seeded Columbus Blue Jackets. Seven other teams were eliminated in the second round, which is symptomatic of a format whose objective is to force divisional rivalry series rather than to protect the NHL’s most successful regular-season teams. (Another reason the current format should absolutely change.)
History tells us that the Bruins will not survive the Stanley Cup playoff gauntlet.
Recency tells us that if any team could buck the trends and reverse the curses, it’s them.
“They’re just a well-oiled machine,” Buffalo Sabres forward Kyle Okposo told me this week. “They’re different than Tampa a number of years ago. [Boston] is a cross between the Lightning and the Bruins of old, when you used to go in there and it wasn’t fun playing against them when they had, like, a murderer’s row back there. They’re just solid. They play the same way the entire time. When you get mature teams like that, that do that, they’re tough to beat.”
But not unbeatable. Okposo has played 16 seasons in the Eastern Conference, which produced nine Presidents’ Trophy winners in that span. Only one of them went on to win the Cup.
“Anything can happen in the playoffs. It’s a different animal. A hot goalie. A little bit of confidence. Anything can happen,” he said.
Here’s a look at the Beasts from the East that the Bruins could face in the conference playoffs and how they stack up against the best regular-season team in NHL history:
Current status: Clinched a wild-card spot
Record vs. Boston: 0-2-1 with a minus-8 goal differential. Their shootout loss came on Dec. 13 in Boston.
Can their goalie steal this series? Absolutely. Ilya Sorokin has one playoff series win to his credit, getting all four Dubs against the Penguins in 2021. Otherwise, it was Semyon Varlamov getting the glut of the action that postseason. Sorokin is expected to be the Islanders’ primary playoff goalie after another strong regular season: a .924 save percentage and a 2.35 goals-against average with six shutouts in 61 games. He’s expected to earn his first Vezina Trophy nomination for an effort that got the Islanders over the finish line for the playoffs. (And let’s not sleep on Varlamov, who is also a capable postseason netminder.)
Why they can beat the Bruins: Ask around the NHL and you’ll hear a familiar refrain about the Islanders. They’re seen as team that might not be built to excel in the regular season, but one that could be a very tough out in the playoffs. They have grinding, physical players, and rink rats can make life miserable in the corners. In Anders Lee (27 goals), they have a mountainous forward who could cause problems in front of the Boston net. They should get Mathew Barzal back for the playoffs, who has been missing because of an injury since February. They’re dangerous.
Why they probably won’t: They’re over-reliant on Sorokin. Since March 1, the Islanders are ninth in goals against at 5-on-5 but 15th in expected goals against. While special teams don’t usually decide playoff series, it should be noted that the Islanders have the 31st-most-effective power play in the NHL and would be facing the league’s best penalty killing team. Plus that egg they laid on the road at Washington in a must-win game gave us pause.
Current status: Clinched a wild-card spot
Record vs. Boston: 2-2-0 with a minus-2 goal differential. The Panthers are one of only two teams to hand the Bruins two losses on the season, although one of them was in overtime.
Can their goalie steal this series? Alex Lyon went 6-0-1 down the stretch for the Panthers to lead their push to a playoff spot, posting a .959 even-strength save percentage. He has a blazing hot hand, but the 30-year-old journeyman has never appeared in an NHL playoff game. His backup — for the moment — has appeared in 51 of them: Sergei Bobrovsky. Four of those playoff games came in 2019, when “Playoff Bob” posted a .932 save percentage in the Blue Jackets’ upset win over the Lightning. You know, the one that tied an NHL record for regular-season wins while securing the Presidents’ Trophy. That one.
Why they can beat the Bruins: The Panthers finally started to resemble last season’s offensive juggernaut late in the season, posted the sixth-highest goal-scoring average (3.74) in the NHL from March 1 on. They have offensive playmakers in Aleksander Barkov (77 points), Carter Verhaeghe (41 goals), Sam Reinhart (31 goals) and defenseman Brandon Montour, who had 73 points in a breakout season. But if they defeat the Bruins, it’ll be because the series became a Matthew Tkachuk series. He had 40 goals and 108 points in an MVP-worthy season. This is why GM Bill Zito flipped Jonathan Huberdeau for Tkachuk last summer: to have a star player who could exert his will on a physical, grinding playoff opponent. And Tkachuk is that player.
Why they probably won’t: If the Panthers defeat the Bruins, it probably won’t look like their lone regular-season win over Boston in regulation, when they scored three times on the power play against what is now the best penalty-killing team in the league. Unless the Panthers’ depth players level up in a playoff series, Boston’s depth advantage up front and on defense likely proves too much for Paul Maurice’s crew to overcome.
Current status: The No. 3 seed in the Metro Division
Record vs. Boston: 0-3-0 with a minus-7 goal differential. Two of those games were at Madison Square Garden. Only one of those games was after the NHL trade deadline.
Can their goalie steal this series? Yes, but with a caveat. There’s no question Igor Shesterkin is one of the best goalies on the planet. Last season’s Vezina winner had 10 wins in 20 playoff games and a .929 save percentage in the Rangers’ run to the conference final last season. But he had some major hiccups in their opening series against Pittsburgh, getting pulled twice on the road. One assumes those were “opening night jitters” as that was Shesterkin’s first playoff series as a starter. But that combined with his struggles against Boston (3-7-0 in his career, .906 save percentage) give us a slight concern about the player who’s usually of least concern to the Rangers.
Why they can beat the Bruins: On paper, they’re perhaps the team in the East that can best match the Bruins’ formidable depth — especially at the forward spots after the arrival of Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko at the deadline. There are just so many potential impact players here, from the wizardry of Artemi Panarin to the blunt force offense of Chris Kreider to Adam Fox‘s quarterbacking. And as we saw last postseason, defenseman Jacob Trouba can change the trajectory of a series with one hit.
Why they probably won’t: The game isn’t played on paper. The Rangers like time and space for their offensive stars to thrive, and that’s exactly what the Bruins excel at taking away. New York averaged 2.54 expected goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 this season. In two of the losses against the Bruins, they were under 2.00 expected goals.
Current status: Second seed in the Metro Division
Record vs. Boston: 0-3-0 with a minus-4 goal differential
Can their goalie steal this series? Vitek Vanecek was exactly what the Devils needed in goal this season: a veteran stabilizing force who could give them quality starts. He won 33 of them in 53 appearances behind an underrated defensive team. He might not be the reason the Devils win a series against Boston, but he won’t likely be the reason they lose one, either. And sometimes that’s enough.
Why they can beat the Bruins: While the Devils’ puck-rushing attack would seem to play into the Bruins’ hands, their speed has created a tough matchup for Boston this season. Two of their losses were by one goal. If you want proof of concept for the Devils, look to their loss last Saturday night in Boston. They were down 2-0 after 4:44. They answered with a first-period goal and then played Boston to a stalemate the rest of the way. While they have a playoff experience disadvantage against the Bruins — outside of Ondrej Palat and Timo Meier — that’ll be nullified by the time they see Boston in the conference final.
Why they probably won’t: The Devils were the sixth-best offensive team in the NHL this season (3.51), but the Bruins limited them to one goal in two of their meetings. Grinding to a dead heat with Boston is one thing; finding that essential goal to win a playoff game against the NHL’s best defensive team — and Linus Ullmark, who was 3-0 with a .950 save percentage against them — is another.
Current status: No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Division
Record vs. Boston: 1-3-0 with a minus-4 goal differential
Can their goalie steal this series? Better than anyone else in the conference can. Andrei Vasilevskiy is the most successful postseason goaltender since Martin Brodeur, having posted a .923 save percentage in 104 career playoff games. If coffee is for closers, as we learned in “Glengarry Glen Ross,” Vasilevskiy is Starbucks: His stats in playoff elimination games are legendary.
Why they can beat the Bruins: Vasilevskiy. Steven Stamkos. Victor Hedman. Nikita Kucherov. Brayden Point. Alex Killorn. Mikhail Sergachev. Many of the foundational players from the Lightning’s back-to-back Stanley Cup wins are still there. Their regular season has been inconsistent at best — their .593 points percentage is the lowest since 2016-17 — but a first-round win against the Maple Leafs could be enough to bring their systems back online. And if that happens, watch out.
Why they probably won’t: Whether the Lightning defeat Toronto or the Leafs self-destruct (again), at some point attrition will catch up with them. They lost the Yanni Gourde checking line to free agency at the expansion draft after their 2021 Cup win … and then they lost in the Final the next postseason. Now they’re down Ryan McDonagh (traded to Nashville) and playoff hero Ondrej Palat (free agency). The pillars remain in place. It’s the rest of the construction around them we’re now worried about.
Current status: No. 2 seed in the Atlantic
Record vs. Boston: 1-2-1 with a minus-4 goal differential. Their victory was a 2-1 decision in Toronto on Nov. 5, prior to Charlie McAvoy‘s return to Boston’s lineup.
Can their goalie steal this series? Ilya Samsonov is certainly stating his case. In his past nine games, the netminder has a .933 save percentage and a 2.02 goals-against average. He has eight games of playoff experience, all with Washington. The potential wild card, if Samsonov falters: rookie Joseph Woll, who is 5-1-0 in six appearances this season with a .933 save percentage.
Why they can beat the Bruins: Sometimes, a team finally gets over the hump and the momentum takes it to the promised land. Think about the Capitals in 2018, breaking through their second-round ceiling and overcoming their tormentors from Pittsburgh en route to winning the Stanley Cup. Just to timestamp it: The last time the Leafs won a playoff series, “Yeah!” by Usher (featuring Lil’ Jon and Ludacris!) was the No. 1 song in the U.S. If they get past the Lightning, there will be a gale-force wind in their sails heading into that Boston showdown. Plus, they have Ryan O’Reilly sharing all of his little secrets on how to beat the B’s after the Blues won the Cup in Boston three years ago.
Why they probably won’t: While the snide answer would be “because playing Boston would mean making it out of the first round,” the actual answer is depth. In their four games against the Bruins, the Leafs have only three players will multiple points: Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner and Michael Bunting. Granting, GM Kyle Dubas added players at the deadline who have seen Boston only once this season as Leafs. But top to bottom, Boston is the deeper team — and obviously has the defensive players to match up with the Leafs’ stars.
Current status: First in the Metro
Record vs. Boston: 1-0-2, with a minus-1 goal differential
Can their goalie steal this series? Yes, in theory. Heck, the Bruins already saw one of them do it last season when Antti Raanta stepped up for an injured Frederik Andersen and provided the backbone to their great defensive effort in eliminating Boston in seven games. They’re both capable of being difference-makers … but both of those veterans and rookie Pyotr Kochetkov have had their struggles this season, particularly Andersen with his health.
Why they can beat the Bruins: Because they’ve done it before. No one else in the conference can ‘D’ it up like the Hurricanes can, as they were second to Boston in team goals-against average (2.54) this season. Coach Rod Brind’Amour’s team is just as blue-collar, physical and truculent as the Bruins. It would be a mud fight in the trenches, and that’s a fight the Hurricanes can win.
Why they probably won’t: The problem with Carolina in previous postseasons was an inability to find that one goal at a critical time to tip a series in its favor. The acquisition of winger Max Pacioretty was supposed to help to that end, but he’s injured. So is star winger Andrei Svechnikov, who is out for the season. Leading scorer Martin Necas has one goal in his past 13 games. They can certainly hang with Boston, but they don’t have the talent to overcome it.
Perhaps no one in the East does. Or the West. Perhaps the Boston Bruins go wire to wire, dominating teams and shattering records before hoisting their first Stanley Cup in 12 years.
Or, perhaps, all of that regular-season success ends up as a footnote, like it did for the Lightning in 2019 and the Red Wings in 1996.
To paraphrase noted hockey pundit Ric Flair: In the NHL, to beat the best, you don’t always have to be the best. Woo.
Jersey Foul of the week
Might be one of the most clever jerseys I’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/QId4d9Dv2R
— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) April 12, 2023
The first player to wear No. 27 for the New York Islanders was John Tonelli, a member of their Stanley Cup dynasty in the 1980s. His number was retired in 2020 … but it’s also the current number of Islanders captain Anders Lee, who has worn it since 2013. I guess technically this is a FrankenJersey, although the nameplate mashup thing is quite innovative.
Video of the Week
the white house was NOT ready for this twerk pic.twitter.com/xg97pWHCJ1
— Gritty (@GrittyNHL) April 10, 2023
Did not have “Gritty twerking at the White House before the Colorado Avalanche ever take the Stanley Cup there” on my bingo card.
Winners and losers of the week
Winner: Lou Lamoriello
The Islanders are back in the playoffs primarily because goalie Ilya Sorokin willed them there, but give credit where it’s due: Lamoriello believed in this roster and augmented it with some really shrewd moves. The Hudson Fasching signing last summer. Bringing back Zach Parise. The aggressive Bo Horvat trade. The acquisition of Pierre Engvall from the Leafs. If the Islanders play 11 games in the postseason, Lamoriello will pass Glen Sather for the most Stanley Cup playoff games for a general manager in NHL history. That’s a tribute to both his longevity and his ability to build teams that get there with frequency.
Loser: Ron Hextall
What an embarrassment. The Penguins got the band back together for the hockey equivalent of Woodstock ’99. They controlled their playoff fate with Chicago and Columbus left on their schedule this week. The Penguins choked away the chance to extend their playoff streak to 17 seasons with a loss to the Blackhawks — on “Fan Appreciation Night” no less. Many of those fans have been chanting for GM Ron Hextall to be fired. Their desires might yet end up being appreciated.
Winner: McDavid’s lament
Please recall back in 2021 when Connor McDavid didn’t draw a single penalty in Edmonton’s series loss to the Winnipeg Jets, leading him to request that referees use their whistles more often. “The rulebook’s there for a reason, and you want to call it with integrity,” he said. Since that time, McDavid leads all NHL players with 95 penalties drawn in 161 games. Which, frankly, still seems low.
Loser: Treliving’s gambit
The Calgary Flames were extinguished from playoff contention this week, as GM Brad Treliving’s scramble to plug the holes of a sinking ship last summer did not, in fact, make them watertight. In the end, losing Johnny Gaudreau to free agency and trading Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers was like removing the sun from a solar system: The Flames were a team of complementary players unable to plot their own orbits. Now comes an intriguing summer for the franchise. Treliving doesn’t have a contract. Coach Darryl Sutter did not have a good season. There’s a lot of talent on this roster. What do they do next?
Winner: Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
I’ve always been a fan of bringing NHL hockey to all corners of the world, especially those that aren’t traditional hockey hotbeds. Playing games in Melbourne, Australia, next preseason is not only a chance to celebrate the nascent hockey communities Down Under, but hopefully give thousands of fans their first taste of the NHL. As St. Louis Blues forward Nathan Walker said, he could only dream of attending an NHL game while growing up in Australia. (Speaking of which, either the Los Angeles Kings or the Arizona Coyotes absolutely must trade for Nathan Walker now.)
Loser: Oy! Oy! Oy!
Around the NHL All-Star break, there was strong speculation that the Boston Bruins might make the trek to the outback for the preseason games in Australia against L.A. Instead, it’s the Kings and the … Arizona Coyotes? Crikey! (But hey, maybe they can have Connor Bedard throw something on the barbie …)
Puck headlines
-
Congrats to the crew at Hockey of Tomorrow on their launch, a site that looks to bring diverse voices to the hockey conversation and a focus on unique stories.
-
There are more than 450 Gordie Howe and Howe family items up for auction via the NHL, the first significant auction that will benefit the Howe Foundation. “Marty Howe’s 2015 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Outfit” will set you back $150, currently.
-
Is it time to hit the panic button for the Lightning? “We’re not as concerned about who we’re playing; it’s about how we play,” coach Jon Cooper said.
-
Good piece here on Carter Verhaeghe of the Panthers. “He can score goals from anywhere, and I think the league’s caught wind” –defenseman Brandon Montour.
-
Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic introduces some “new” NHL stats. “Offensive Rating, Defensive Rating and Net Rating. One measures offense, one measures defense and one just adds them together for a total number.”
-
Finally, here are the keys to the offseason for the NHL’s eliminated teams.
Watch ‘The Drop’!
Arda Ocal and I look at the Bruins’ playoff path and rank the five best NHL regular seasons. Enjoy!