Through 78 games, the Bruins are on pace for 64 wins by season’s end and are the fastest team to 50 wins in NHL history. The current record for most wins in a season (62) was set in 1995-96 by the Detroit Red Wings (who finished 62-13-7), and tied in 2018-19 by the Tampa Bay Lightning (62-16-4). Neither team won the Stanley Cup in its respective record-setting season, as the Red Wings lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference finals, and the Lightning were swept in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Points: 127
The Bruins are the fastest team in NHL history to reach 100 points, getting there in 61 games, one fewer than the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. Boston is on pace for 133 points this season. This would put them on pace to break the current record for points in a season held by the same 1976-77 Canadiens (132), who set that mark in an 80-game season. The Canadiens won the Cup that season — over the Bruins.
Goal differential: +121
Goal differential is not an easily projectable stat for a number of reasons. But if we took the Bruins’ current differential — which is best in the league by 60 goals — and extrapolated that out to 82 games, they’d finish at plus-127. That’s a number that would blow by anything in the salary cap era, but would not be too close to the all-time record. The 1976-77 Canadiens are atop the board, at plus-216.
Team save percentage: .932
Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman are one of the NHL’s best goaltending duos, and along with a 30-of-31 game by Keith Kinkaid, the group has generated the league’s best team save percentage, ahead of the New York Islanders, at .921. Though not an official league record, the best mark for a team in a single season is .934, set by the 1968-69 St. Louis Blues.
Goals against per game: 2.10
All of those saves have resulted in not many goals for Bruins opponents. Their mark of 2.10 goals against per game is well ahead of the second place Carolina Hurricanes (2.53). The post-1967 expansion record for lowest goals-against average in a season is 1.89, held by the 2011-12 Blues.
The 26-year-old winger is second in the NHL with 57 goals, and is fourth with 104 points, on pace for 60 and 109 respectively. Those totals don’t approach all-time NHL records, but if he hits that goal mark, it would be the fourth-most goals in a season by a Bruin, breaking Phil Esposito’s clean sweep of the top five goal-scoring seasons in B’s history.
Linus Ullmark
By notching his 25th win of the season in his 28th game, Ullmark broke the NHL record for fewest number of games to reach that victory benchmark. He leads the league in wins (38), goals-against average (1.91) and save percentage (.937). The single-season NHL record for wins (48, by Braden Holtby in 2015-16) is in play. The modern-era record for GAA is 1.56 (Brian Elliott, 2011-12) and for save percentage is .940 (also by Elliott in 2011-12). For good measure, Ullmark scored a goal in Boston’s 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 25.
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David Pastrnak wins it for Bruins in OT
David Pastrnak’s overtime winner gives Boston its 61st win of the regular season.
Bruins’ upcoming games
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CINCINNATI — Christian Yelich had two homers among his four hits and drove in five runs as the Milwaukee Brewers overcame a seven-run deficit to beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-8 Friday night for their club record-tying 13th straight victory.
The Brewers became the first team in 94 years to extend a double-digit win streak with a comeback win of seven or more runs, according to ESPN Research.
The Reds chased Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski – making his first start since July 28 – with a seven-run seventh inning to take an 8-1 lead.
Yelich homered leading off the second against Nick Martinez for Milwaukee’s first run. He had an RBI double in the third before Andrew Vaughn hit his 14th homer – a three-run shot – and Brice Turang‘s RBI double to cut it to 8-6. Yelich had a two-run single in the fourth to tie it at 8-all and then hit his 26th homer – a one-out, solo shot off Scott Barlow (6-1) in the sixth to give the Brewers the lead.
Yelich did his damage with a bat honoring the late Bob Uecker. It had the home run call of the former catcher and longtime Brewers’ announcer written on it.
This was also Yelich’s third career game with four hits and two home runs, tying Ryan Braun and Willy Adames for most in franchise history, according to ESPN Research.
Brandon Lockridge went 3 for 5 and doubled off Sam Moll with two outs in the seventh before scoring on a wild pitch for an insurance run.
Misiorowski loaded the bases with one out in the second on a hit batter and two walks and left after walking Spencer Steer to force in a run. Elly De La Cruz had the first hit in the inning – a two-run double off DL Hall for a 4-1 lead. Four straight singles increased the lead to 8-1.
Misiorowski was charged with five runs on four hits and three walks in 1 1/3 innings hours after coming off the injured list. Nick Mears (4-3) pitched a scoreless fifth. Trevor Megill struck out two in the ninth for his 29th save. Six relievers combined to retire the final 23 Reds in order.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
LOS ANGELES — Third baseman Max Muncy was diagnosed with a Grade 1 oblique strain and landed on the injured list Friday, a major blow to a Los Angeles Dodgers team that finds itself fading in the standings.
Muncy was originally a late scratch from Wednesday’s lineup after feeling soreness in his right side during pregame batting practice. The Dodgers’ hope was that sitting out for the finale from Angel Stadium, then getting extra rest during the Thursday off day, would allow Muncy to return for a critical series against the division-rival San Diego Padres, who have taken a one-game lead in the National League West.
But Muncy will miss this weekend’s series from Dodger Stadium, as well as the following series from San Diego’s Petco Park next weekend.
“I don’t think anyone expects it to be season-ending,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “but hopefully it’s sooner than later.”
Roberts doesn’t believe the current oblique injury is as bad as the one that forced Muncy to miss about two months last year, but even in a best-case scenario, the Dodgers might be without their third baseman and left-handed power hitter until around mid-September.
Muncy got off to a bad start this year before turning it on in the middle of May, slashing .312/.438/.616 with 11 home runs in a stretch of 41 games. Muncy then injured his left knee during a scary collision at third base and wound up missing most of July. He returned Aug. 4, went 8-for-23 with four home runs over the course of eight games, and now he’s out again — at a time when the reigning World Series champs could really use some reinforcements.
The Dodgers held a nine-game lead in the NL West as of July 3 and have since gone 12-21 to fall a game back of a surging Padres team that arrived in L.A. on the heels of a five-game winning streak. As many as six high-leverage relievers reside on the Dodgers’ IL, though three of them — Michael Kopech, Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott — are nearing returns. The offense, meanwhile, has been mostly unproductive over the past six weeks, posting an 0.708 OPS that ranks 22nd in the major leagues.
During Muncy’s absence, the Dodgers will use Alex Freeland, a switch-hitting rookie who’s batting .176 in his first 12 games, and Buddy Kennedy, a right-handed-hitting journeyman with a career .193 batting average. Other potential reinforcements like Tommy Edman, Hyeseong Kim and Enrique Hernandez remain on the IL and aren’t close enough to a return.
“It’s certainly a tough loss,” Roberts said. “I think it’s just guys got to continue to perform to their abilities. It’s hard to kind of backfill Max, what he means, as far as the plate discipline, the slug, the on-base, all that stuff. I feel good about our lineup, the guys that we have, and they just have to go out there and take good at-bats. That’s all we can do right now.”
The Phillies said that initial X-rays were negative and that Duran would be evaluated further Saturday.
Pitching in a non-save situation after four days off, Duran began the ninth by facing Paul DeJong, who hit a sharp grounder to the mound on his fourth pitch. The ball deflected off Duran’s foot and into foul territory for a single.
Duran ran toward the ball but began limping as he approached the foul line. After a lengthy visit by team trainers, he took a seat in the Nationals’ bullpen cart and was driven off the field.
“He ran like a shot to retrieve the ball, and once he got there, I think the adrenaline wore off and the pain set in,” Thomson said. “But before the cart came out, he said, ‘I actually feel better, I think I can walk over to the dugout.’ But we got all these steps up here, so we just wanted to use the cart and take him all the way around, so he didn’t have to go up the steps.”
Acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline, Duran is 4-for-4 in save opportunities with the Phillies.