The Boston Bruins have been breathtaking the way they’ve won games this season, writes Adam Proteau. If the B’s lose in the playoffs, it'll be a big upset.
The Boston Bruins have been breathtaking the way they’ve won games this season, writes Adam Proteau. If the B’s lose in the playoffs, it'll be a big upset.
From the start of the 2022-23 regular season race right through up until now, the Boston Bruins have been outstanding. And “outstanding” really doesn’t capture exactly how dominant the Bruins have been.
By almost any metric, as well as the eye test, Boston has made mincemeat of their opponents, to the point they’re the prohibitive favorite to win the Stanley Cup.
How fantastic have the Bruins been? Let’s count the ways.
After Monday’s games, Boston was 16 points better than the next-best NHL team. Sixteen. Points. That is astonishing, all by itself, and it speaks to the consistency we’ve seen out of them all season long.
Indeed, the Bruins have only had two losing streaks, and they were just three and two games long. Given the punishing NHL schedule and the always-looming threat of injury, Boston could’ve been forgiven for stumbling more than that. But coach Jim Montgomery has been an inspiration in his first year behind the Bruins’ bench, and his impact is reflected in Boston’s place in the NHL standings.
But the Bruins have many more statistics that will blow your mind. Take their home record of 30-3-3. That’s five more wins than the team with the second-best home record. With five home games left to play, Boston could be the third-best home team of all-time, trailing only Detroit (36-3-2) in 1995-96 and Philadelphia (36-2-2) in 1975-76.
Imagine what an advantage they have for themselves, as they’ll have home-ice advantage throughout the post-season.
The stats illuminating the Bruins’ season go on and on. Thus far this year, they’ve got nine players with at least 41 points, and their top four scoring defensemen have combined to generate 142 points, an average of 35.5 per player.
And by helping power the team to this tremendous standings advantage, Boston has given itself the luxury of resting some of its veterans.
In Sunday’s game against Carolina, the Bruins sat out star forwards Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, and top defenseman Hampus Lindholm. The load management teams in many sports have adopted has arrived in the NHL, and it’s likely to give Boston even more of an advantage, especially over the teams they’ll probably face off against in the first round of the coming playoffs.
But let’s get back to how the Bruins have run roughshod over the rest of the NHL.
They have the best defense in the league, allowing an average of just 2.11 goals-against per game. They have the second-best offense in the game, posting an average of 3.73 goals-for per game.
They have the second-best faceoff percentage in the league, at an average of 54.5 percent. They have the best penalty-kill in the league, averaging 85.9-percent efficiency. They have the top net penalty-kill percentage in the league (89.1 percent), which factors in how many shorthanded goals a penalty kill scores.
Their goaltenders, starter Linus Ullmark and backup Jeremy Swayman, are the front-runners for the William Jennings Trophy as the goaltending duo with the fewest goals allowed. It's really astonishing, and Boston has got the chance to be regarded as one of the best teams of all time.
No matter what happens in this year’s playoffs, the Bruins will make history. Either they roll through four rounds and win it all, or they’ll be on the wrong side of one of the biggest upsets in NHL history.
There is no good reason why a wild-card team like Pittsburgh, Florida or the Islanders should beat Boston in Round 1, but it happened to the 128-point Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018-19 when the Columbus Blue Jackets swept them. But if the Bruins get pass the opening hurdle, they have every opportunity to stay as hot as they’ve been all season.
It’s breathtaking the way Boston has simply gone about their business and smothered opponents with their depth of skill and determination this year. And the best for them could be coming very soon.