History is being made on both sides. The Bruins are on pace for 65 wins and 136 points this season, both of which would be NHL records (the current marks are 62 and 132, respectively). They were the fastest team in NHL history to reach 100 points. Goaltender Linus Ullmark could threaten the NHL record for wins and is well ahead in the Vezina Trophy race.
On the other side, Connor McDavid leads the league with 54 goals and 124 points — he’s 10 points clear of the league’s No. 2 in goals (Boston’s David Pastrnak), and 28 points clear of No. 2 in points (Edmonton teammate Leon Draisaitl). Pacewise, he’s on a path to 68 goals and 156 points. The 124 points is already ahead of McDavid’s league-leading point total from 2021-22, and if he stays on his current pace, it would be the highest mark since Mario Lemieux’s 161 in 1995-96.
If you weren’t sold on tuning in already, we’ve gathered our hockey reporters here to debate the big questions heading into this matchup:
The Bruins will finish the season with _____ wins and _____ points.
Ryan S. Clark: Let’s go with 65 wins and 136 points. They have won 79% of their games this season and … that’s beyond ridiculous when you say it out loud. The figures I quoted are what would happen if the Bruins keep going at their current pace.
It’s not to say those numbers can’t change. They certainly can. But at this point, it’s hard to argue against a team that made additions at the trade deadline to become even more indomitable.
Victoria Matiash: The Bruins will lose two of their final 20 in regulation and two in overtime. That works out to 49 plus 16 — carry the 1… — 65 wins and 137 points. Patrice Bergeron & Co. don’t only care to break the record, they want it shattered. Plus, this crew intends to ride into the playoffs as hot as possible.
Kristen Shilton: Boston will end up with 64 wins and 134 points. Once the Bruins break the NHL record for most regular-season victories — which feels like a foregone conclusion at this point — it only makes sense that they will rest some of their veterans. That’s in preparation for what they hope — and we all assume — will be a long spring ahead.
For as good as these Bruins have been the past several months, the real Boston behemoth must earnestly emerge in April.
Greg Wyshynski: The Bruins will finish with 63 wins to break the NHL record for most in the regular season and 132 points to tie the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens for the most in NHL history in a single season. (Montreal wins the tiebreaker, having done it in 80 games.)
Besides being a steamroller, Boston has a pretty manageable schedule the rest of the way, with an equal number of playoff contenders and lottery teams. They’ll make history, then give their veteran players a much-deserved breather before the postseason grind.
Connor McDavid and David Pastrnak are tops in the league in goal scoring right now. Who’ll win the Rocket Richard at season’s end?
Clark: It’s likely going to be McDavid or Pastrnak. Although, if we have to pick someone outside those two, maybe Tage Thompson is the answer.
As of Thursday, Thompson is only two goals behind Pastrnak. Remember, Thompson scored 13 goals in the month of December. He has shown that he can piece together these notable scoring streaks. Now he’s trying to do it while the Sabres are fighting for a playoff spot. He seems like the strongest non-McDavid/non-Pastrnak candidate.
Matiash: McDavid wins the Rocket with 70, scowling all the way. Mikko Rantanen finishes second with 55, shaming many of us for not showering him with enough comparative attention this season.
Shilton: It’s hard to bet against a player in McDavid who has scored multiple goals in 12 of 65 games this season (so far). McDavid can flip the switch like no one else in hockey.
It would take a truly uncharacteristic dry spell or major injury to hold McDavid off winning the Rocket. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see McDavid finish the season with 70 goals.
Wyshynski: McDavid almost set an NHL record for consecutive multiple-goal games, and I don’t see this scoring bender ending any time soon.
I’ll say Connor will end up with a total of 69 goals as he completes the best point-scoring season in NHL history by anyone not named Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux.
Will this be our 2023 Stanley Cup Final matchup? If not, who ya got?
Clark: Not right now. Boston looks like it has everything needed to reach the Cup Final this season. But it’s not often that the Presidents’ Trophy winner also brings home the Stanley Cup. Nevertheless, this version of the Bruins looks like it might simply be different.
Edmonton is a tricky one. It’s a team that has struggled to find consistency. But that could also play to the Oilers’ advantage, given the West has been so tight this year that no clear-cut favorite has yet to break away.
Matiash: Why not? After having lost all of eight games in regulation since October, now the Bruins are expected to drop half that total in a given stretch of two weeks or less? That math doesn’t make sense. Plus, the club is even better in current form with Dmitry Orlov and Tyler Bertuzzi aboard. Never even mind that forward Taylor Hall could be good to rejoin forces up front once we get to the knockout stage.
Out west, the best player in the world’s club finally acquired a much-needed defensive zone dominator in Mattias Ekholm. That helps. A lot. From a tight contending crowd also including the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche — who failed to grab a better option to serve as a second-line center — Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild, the Oilers sport as good a chance as any of reaching the ultimate round.
Shilton: Oof. If only! Imagine, first of all, three rounds of watching Connor McDavid in the playoffs. That’s good theater. However, Edmonton’s postseason track record makes it tough to anoint it a true Cup Final contender just yet. We all know the game changes come playoff time. Can the Oilers bring those defensive elements needed to go all the way?
On the other side, the Bruins have shown their capabilities across the board all season. Other than the whole “Presidents’ Trophy winners never get anywhere” narrative, there’s zero flaw in arguing that Boston is a Cup Final favorite. The Western Conference has more dark horses than the East. Thus, it’s harder to predict who will come out on top.
Wyshynski: We’ve got one team from my preseason Stanley Cup Final, and that’s the Oilers. My preseason pick was the Oilers against the Carolina Hurricanes, as we party like it’s 2006. I’ll stick with that as long as I can, in the hopes that I’ll look like a genius if it hits.
But if you’re looking for a spicy take here on the Bruins, here it is: I’m taking the field against Boston in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The next three best teams in the entire NHL after the Bruins are the Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Tampa Bay Lightning, who are seeking a fourth straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, and the New York Rangers are both in or near the top 10. There’s a chance the Bruins could face Sidney Crosby in the first round of the playoffs — and anyone who saw the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ series against the Rangers last season knows how he can assert his will on a series.
Maybe there’s a reason the entire East made trade deadline moves. Maybe those teams don’t see the Boston juggernaut as unstoppable.
NEW YORK — Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said he discussed Pete Rose with President Donald Trump at a meeting two weeks ago and he plans to rule on a request to end the sport’s permanent ban of the career hits leader, who died in September.
Speaking Monday at a meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors, Manfred said he and Trump discussed several issues, including concerns over how immigration policies could impact players from Cuba, Venezuela and other foreign countries.
Manfred is considering a petition to have Rose posthumously removed from MLB’s permanently ineligible list. The petition was filed in January by Jeffrey Lenkov, a Southern California lawyer who represented Rose prior to the 17-time All-Star’s death at age 83.
“I met with President Trump two weeks ago … and one of the topics was Pete Rose, but I’m not going beyond that,” Manfred said. “He’s said what he said publicly. I’m not going beyond that in terms of what the back and forth was.”
Trump posted on social media Feb. 28 that he plans to issue “a complete PARDON of Pete Rose.” Trump posted on Truth Social that Rose “shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING.”
It’s unclear what a presidential pardon might include. Trump did not specifically mention a tax case in which Rose pleaded guilty in 1990 to two counts of filing false tax returns and served a five-month prison sentence.
The president said he would sign a pardon for Rose “over the next few weeks” but has not addressed the matter since.
Rose had 4,256 hits and also holds records for games (3,562) and plate appearances (15,890). He was the 1973 National League MVP and played on three World Series winners.
An investigation for MLB by lawyer John M. Dowd found Rose placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team. Rose agreed with MLB on a permanent ban in 1989.
Lenkov is seeking Rose’s reinstatement so that he can be considered for the Hall of Fame. Under a rule adopted by the Hall’s board of directors in 1991, anyone on the permanently ineligible list can’t be considered for election to the Hall. Rose applied for reinstatement in 1997 and met with Commissioner Bud Selig in November 2002, but Selig never ruled on Rose’s request. Manfred in 2015 denied Rose’s application for reinstatement.
Manfred said reinstating Rose now was “a little more complicated than it might appear on the outside” and did not commit to a timeline except that “I want to get it done promptly as soon as we get the work done.”
“I’m not going to give this the pocket veto,” Manfred said. “I will in fact issue a ruling.”
Rose’s reinstatement doesn’t mean he would automatically appear on a Hall of Fame ballot. He would first have to be nominated by the Hall’s Historical Overview Committee, which is picked by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and approved by the Hall’s board.
Manfred said he has been in regular contact with chairman Jane Forbes Clark.
“I mean, believe me, a lot of Hall of Fame dialogue on this one,” Manfred said.
If reinstated, Rose potentially would be eligible for consideration to be placed on a ballot to be considered by the 16-member Classic Baseball Era committee in December 2027.
Manfred said he doesn’t think baseball’s current ties to legal sports betting should color views on Rose’s case.
“There is and always has been a clear demarcation between what Rob Manfred, ordinary citizen, can do on the one hand, and what someone who has the privilege to play or work in Major League Baseball can do on the other in respect to gambling,” Manfred said. “The fact that the law changed, and we sell data and/or sponsorships, which is essentially all we do, to sports betting enterprises, I don’t think changes that.
“It’s a privilege to play Major League Baseball. As with every privilege, there comes responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is that they not bet on the game.”
Manfred did not go into details on his discussion with Trump over foreign-born players other than to say he expressed worry.
“Given the number of foreign-born players we have, we’re always concerned about ingress and egress,” Manfred said. “We have had dialogue with the administration about this topic. And, you know, they’re very interested in sports. They understand the unique need to be able to go back and forth, and I’m going to leave it at that.”
It was old faces in familiar places for the Atlanta Braves on Monday after they activated right-hander Ian Anderson to the active roster and signed outfielder Eddie Rosario to a major league contract.
In corresponding moves, outfielder Jarred Kelenic was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett, while right-hander Davis Daniel was optioned to Triple-A after Sunday’s game.
Both Anderson and Rosario emerged as 2021 postseason heroes in Atlanta as the Braves went on to win the World Series.
Anderson, who was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, went 4-0 with a 1.26 ERA in eight postseason starts for the Braves over the 2020 and 2021 postseasons.
In the 2021 World Series, Anderson famously pitched five no-hit innings in Game 3 to lead Atlanta to a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros. The Braves defeated the Astros in six games.
Anderson, who turns 27 Friday, was traded by the Braves to the Angels on March 23 for left-hander Jose Suarez. He struggled badly with his new club, going 0-1 with an 11.57 ERA in seven relief appearances. He allowed 17 hits and seven walks in just 9⅓ innings.
Rosario, 33, signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in February and played in two games with the club, going 1-for-4. He was designated for assignment and became a free agent when Shohei Ohtani returned from the paternity list just over a week ago.
Rosario was the 2021 National League Championship Series MVP, when he powered the Braves past the Dodgers with three home runs, nine RBIs and a 1.647 OPS in six games.
Over parts of 11 seasons, Rosario is a career .261 hitter with 169 home runs and 583 RBIs in 1,123 games with five different clubs, including five seasons with the Minnesota Twins (2015-20) and four with the Braves (2021-24).
Kelenic, 25, was batting .167 with two home runs in 23 games and is a career .211 hitter with 49 home runs and 156 RBIs in 406 games with the Seattle Mariners (2021-23) and Braves.
Daniel, 27, made his only appearance for the Braves on Sunday with a scoreless inning and has appeared in 10 games (six starts) over the past three seasons with a 4.95 ERA.
Mike Sullivan, who led the Pittsburgh Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, is out as the team’s head coach, it was announced Monday.
Sullivan was the longest-tenured coach in Penguins history after just completing his 10th season. The 57-year-old, who also coached Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off, was under contract in Pittsburgh through 2026-27.
In a statement, Penguins GM Kyle Dubas said the decision was “the best course forward for all involved” as Pittsburgh navigates a transitional period.
“On behalf of Fenway Sports Group and the Penguins organization, I would like to thank Mike Sullivan for his unwavering commitment and loyalty to the team and City of Pittsburgh over the past decade,” Dubas said. “Mike is known for his preparation, focus and fierce competitiveness. I was fortunate to have a front-row seat to his dedication to this franchise for the past two seasons. He will forever be an enormous part of Penguins history, not only for the impressive back-to-back Cups, his impact on the core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Bryan Rust, but more importantly, for his love and loyalty to the organization. This was not a decision that was taken lightly, but as we continue to navigate the Penguins through this transitional period, we felt it was the best course forward for all involved.”
The Penguins have missed the playoffs for three straight seasons as Dubas works to retool the team into a contender while Crosby is still competing at a high level. Crosby just completed his 20th straight season in which he posted a point-per-game scoring pace, and he was voted by his peers in the NHLPA as the league’s most complete player. The captain is under contract through next season on a two-year extension he signed prior to the 2024-25 season.
Sullivan was elevated to Penguins head coach in 2015 after leading the organization’s AHL team in Wilkes-Barre. With 409 wins in Pittsburgh, he leaves as the Penguins’ all-time wins leader.
Sources also said Sullivan is keen on coaching again next season and will be a top candidate for several of the vacancies. Sullivan worked as an assistant coach with the Rangers and as both an assistant and head coach with the Bruins earlier in his career.