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The Boston Bruins have set a new NHL single-season record with 63 wins, defeating the Flyers 5-3 on Sunday at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center.

Bruins forward David Pastrnak tallied a hat trick to give him 60 goals on the season, second only to Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid (64).

“It’s been a lot of fun, I’m not going to lie,” Pastrnak said of the season. “It’s been enjoyable, especially the group we have here. We obviously knew the stakes, and it’s definitely special to hit it in a game like this. Made history today in the biggest league in hockey.”

The Bruins entered the game tied in wins with the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning. They ended the game as the first team in NHL history to post 63 victories in a single regular season.

“They had some people out,” Flyers coach John Tortorella said. “But still that’s a really good hockey team.”

Boston now has 131 points on the season, within reach of the all-time single-season record of 132 points held by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins will finish with a home game on Tuesday against the Washington Capitals and a road tilt on Thursday against — potentially quite poetically — the Canadiens.

“I think they grasp [the moment], because we’re talking about the history of the NHL and how long this league has been here,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery on Saturday. “I think they grasp it, like when [Wayne] Gretzky broke [Gordie] Howe’s record. Our group is aware of what we’re doing as a team.”

Boston has dominated the 2022-23 NHL season from start to finish. They have clinched the Presidents’ Trophy with the league’s best record — and with it home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the Bruins are the fourth team in the NHL’s modern era to sit atop its division standings for the entire season, joining the 2008-09 San Jose Sharks, 1984-85 Oilers and 1977-78 Canadiens.

The Bruins set NHL records for the fastest team to 50 wins (64 games) and 100 points (61 games), as well.

Rather than coast into the postseason, Montgomery and his players have emphasized that breaking those regular-season records was a meaningful goal before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin on April 17.

“Being able to stay focused and learn how to win when chasing records is the closest thing you can do when you’re having a season like us to prepare for the playoffs,” Montgomery said.

Boston faced the Flyers less than 24 hours after defeating the New Jersey Devils at home on Saturday night. The Bruins iced a depleted lineup, missing centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, winger Taylor Hall and defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Dmitry Orlov.

Center Charlie Coyle got the scoring going just 47 seconds into the contest, firing a one-timer on a pass from defenseman Connor Carrick past Philadelphia goalie Felix Sandstrom.

The Flyers answered back with an unassisted goal from Wade Allison only 17 seconds later, on a miscue from Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who rallied to post 34 saves in the win.

“It’s hard to win in this league and there’s a reason why this record is at 62 because not many teams can get there, so it’s a special honor,” Swayman said. “These guys in this room are more than deserving.”

Pastrnak broke the tie at 2:04 of the second period then added another goal at 7:31. Joel Farabee‘s goal at 13:58 of the second off a Bruins turnover cut the lead to 3-2 entering the third period.

Pastrnak completed the hat trick 39 seconds into the third. Flyers forward Owen Tippett‘s goal at 9:06 made things interesting, but center Pavel Zacha scored his 21st of the season to make it 5-3 and send Boston to its history-making victory.

“Anytime you’re talking about putting your team’s name in the history books of the most wins ever in a regular season, it’s special,” Montgomery said Sunday.

It should be noted that the 1995-96 Red Wings set their regular-season wins record in an era before the overtime shootout eliminated tie games. Detroit had a record of 62 wins, 13 losses and 7 ties. Four of Boston’s wins this season came via the shootout.

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Jets’ Scheifele misses G7 because of injury

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Jets' Scheifele misses G7 because of injury

Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele did not play in Game 7 of the Jets’ first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday due to an undisclosed injury, coach Scott Arniel said.

Arniel ruled out Scheifele following the team’s morning skate. He was hurt in Game 5 — playing only 8:05 in the first period before exiting — and then did not travel with the Jets to St. Louis for Game 6. Arniel previously had said Scheifele was a game-time decision for Game 7.

Scheifele, 32, skated in a track suit Saturday, and Arniel told reporters the veteran was feeling better than he had the day before. Scheifele, however, was not able to participate in the Jets’ on-ice session by Sunday, quickly indicating he would not be available for the game.

Winnipeg held a 2-0 lead in the series over St. Louis before the Blues stormed back with a pair of wins to tie it, 2-2. The home team has won each game in the best-of-seven series so far.

The Jets’ challenge in closing out St. Louis only increases without Scheifele. Winnipeg already has been dealing with the uneven play of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, a significant storyline in the series to date. Hellebuyck was pulled in all three of his starts at St. Louis while giving up a combined 16 goals on 66 shots (.758 SV%). In Game 6, Hellebuyck allowed four goals in only 5 minutes, 23 seconds of the second period.

Hellebuyck was Winnipeg’s backbone during the regular season, earning a Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy nomination for his impeccable year (.925 SV%, 2.00 GAA).

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Stars expect Robertson, Heiskanen back in semis

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Stars expect Robertson, Heiskanen back in semis

Stars coach Pete DeBoer expects to have leading goal scorer Jason Robertson and standout defenseman Miro Heiskanen available in the Western Conference semifinals after both missed Dallas’ first-round series win over the Colorado Avalanche.

Following their thrilling Game 7 comeback victory over the Avalanche on Saturday night, the Stars await the winner of Sunday night’s Game 7 between the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues. If the Blues win, the Stars will have home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series.

“I believe you’re going to see them both play in the second round, but I don’t know if it’s going to be Game 1 or Game 3 or Game 5,” DeBoer said after Saturday’s series clincher. “I consider them both day-to-day now, but there’s still some hurdles. It depends on when we start the series, how much time we have between now and Game 1. We’ll have a little better idea as we get closer.”

Robertson, 25, who posted 80 points (35 goals, 45 assists) in 82 games this season, suffered a lower-body injury in the regular-season finale April 16 and was considered week-to-week at the time.

Heiskanen hasn’t played since injuring his left knee in a Jan. 28 collision with Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone. Initially expected to miss three to four months, the 25-year-old defenseman had surgery Feb. 4 and sat out the final 32 games of the regular season. In 50 games, he collected 25 points (five goals, 20 assists) and averaged 25:10 of ice time, which ranked fifth among NHL blueliners.

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Red Sox 1B Casas out for year after knee surgery

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Red Sox 1B Casas out for year after knee surgery

BOSTON — Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas suffered a ruptured tendon in his left knee and is out for the remainder of the season, the team said.

The 25-year-old Casas ruptured his patellar tendon running to first on a slow roller up the line and fell awkwardly in Boston’s victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. After laying on his back in pain — not moving the knee — he was carted off on a stretcher before being taken to a Boston hospital.

The team announced Sunday that he had surgery for a left patellar tendon repair at Massachusetts General Hospital. The surgery was performed by Dr. Eric Berkson.

“I talked to him last night,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said in a news conference on Saturday discussing the injury outside Boston’s clubhouse. “We exchanged text messages [Saturday]. We all care deeply about just his overall wellbeing.”

Manager Alex Cora said Casas worked hard during the offseason to play every day after missing a large amount of last year with torn cartilage in his rib cage.

“He did an outstanding job in the offseason to put himself in that situation. It didn’t start the way he wanted it to,” Cora said of Casas’ struggles. “He was going to play and play a lot. Now we’ve got to focus on the rehab after the surgery and hopefully get him back stronger than ever and ready to go next year.”

Casas batted just .182 with three homers and 11 RBIs, but Breslow said his loss will be felt, especially with the team’s lack of depth at the position.

“He certainly struggled through the first month of the season but that didn’t change what we believe his production was capable of being,” Breslow said. “It’s a big loss. In addition to what we think we were going to get on the offensive side, he was kind of like a stabilizing presence on the defensive side of the field — also a big personality and a big part of the clubhouse.”

During spring training, Casas talked about how his focus at the plate this season was being more relaxed.

“You really want it until you don’t,” he said, explaining his thoughts while standing at his locker. “Then you can’t want it that much.”

Now, he’ll have to focus on his recovery plan for next season.

Casas, a left-handed batter, was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with infielder/outfielder Abraham Toro selected from Triple-A Worcester.

Cora said Toro — a switch-hitter — will split time at first along with Romy Gonzalez. who bats right-handed.

Breslow said the team might be exploring a long-term replacement.

“This is unfortunately an opportunity to explore what’s available,” he said. “We’ll look both internally and outside as well.”

Cora said there are no plans to move Rafael Devers, who was replaced at third by offseason free-agent acquisition Alex Bregman and moved to DH.

“We asked him to do something in spring training that in the beginning he didn’t agree with it and now he’s very comfortable doing what he’s doing,” Cora said. “Like I told you guys in spring training, he’s my DH.”

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