It’s Stanley Cup or bust for the Bruins
It’s rare that a team is so dominant during the regular season that anything short of a title would be considered a failure. The 2022-23 Boston Bruins fit this description.
The B’s have set their fans’ expectations so unbelievably high that any result other than a Cup victory will be a complete and utter disappointment. They’re on pace to be the best regular season team in NHL history. They’re already the fastest to 100 points, reaching the mark in one less game (61) than the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens (62). The Canadiens won the Cup that season.
Boston is headed towards 65 wins, better than the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings (62-13-7) and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning (62-16-4). Neither of those teams won the Cup, which is comparable to the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors going 73-9 and losing in the Finals or our 2007 Pats going 18-0 before falling short in the Super Bowl. This is the type of company the Bruins will be grouped with if they don’t finish the job this spring.
On top of all the winning they’re doing on the ice, the B’s just locked up David Pastrnak for the next eight years and added an established role-player in Tyler Bertuzzi, who already made a key contribution in his debut against the Rangers on Saturday afternoon:
Charlie Coyle bangs Tyler Bertuzzi's perfect centering pass home to break the ice for the Bruins!#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/VzqTsJfNDD
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) March 4, 2023
The result was a 4-2 win at The Garden (our Garden) over a respectable opponent and surefire playoff team. It was the 10th straight victory for the black and gold, giving them an overall record of 49-8-5.
As is the case with any great hockey team, the goaltending has been elite. Linus Ullmark is well on his way to a Vezina Trophy. He and Jeremy Swayman are proving to be an all-time great duo between the pipes.
The young talent plus the motivation that Bergeron, Krejci, and Marchand have to grab another ring together make this Bruins team virtually unbeatable when they’re at their best. There’s no reason they shouldn’t bring the Cup back home.