Boston Bruins defeat Philadelphia Flyers to break NHL wins record

As this truly memorable Boston Bruins season nears its end, they have broken a major NHL record. The Bruins have officially set the NHL record for most wins by a team in a single season with their 63rd victory of the 2022-23 campaign.

The Bruins currently sit in first place in the NHL with a 63-12-5 record with 131 points. They are a full 22 points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes, who have been utterly dominant in their own right.

The Bruins are the third team in NHL history to record 62 wins in a season. The 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning have accomplished this feat. Boston still has two games left in the 2022-23 regular season to potentially make the record more unreachable for future teams. They are set to play the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens for the last two games of the regular season, both non-playoff teams.

The 1995-96 Red Wings won the first two rounds of the playoffs but ultimately fell short to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Colorado Avalanche. The 2018-19 Lightning had a magical regular season headlined by Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Steven Stamkos and others but shockingly fell in the first round to a series-sweep from the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets.

During the Bruins’ 5-3 victory over the Flyers, superstar forward David Pastrnak scored a hat trick which included his 60th goal of the season as well as the 300th goal of his career. He is the second player this year to score 60 goals, as Connor McDavid already has 64 and counting.

In a normal year Pastrnak would be a Hart Trophy and Maurice Richard Trophy favourite, but with the emergence of Connor McDavid to all-time levels of hockey and the increased scoring around the NHL, Pastrnak will likely come away without any awards this year.

Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman backstopped their victory over the Flyers, stopping 34 of 37 shots against.