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.
Bruins win in shootout for 60th win of the season
The Bruins continue their history-making run with their 60th win of the regular season via shootout against the Blues.
Bruins’ upcoming games
Note: All games not on ESPN, TNT or NHL Network are available via NHL Power Play, which is included in an ESPN+ subscription (local blackout restrictions apply).
AUSTIN, Texas — Arch Manning threw for 258 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in his first career start at Texas, leading a 51-3 win over UL Monroe in relief of injured starter Quinn Ewers to push the No. 1 Longhorns to 4-0.
After throwing an interception on his first possession, Manning settled in, and Texas scored touchdowns on six of his 10 drives for a 44-3 lead when he left the game early in the fourth quarter. The redshirt freshman competed 15 of his 29 pass attempts.
Manning said there were several throws he’d like back, starting with his first interception, a second-down throw under pressure that ULM defensive back Carl Fauntroy snagged three minutes into the game. When asked how he’d grade his performance, Manning said, “Probably a C-plus, but a win’s a win.”
“To think he was going to come out and play a perfect game, I don’t think anybody in here thought that,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I thought he was going to prepare really well, work really hard, do everything he could to play good football. He was gonna have some lessons learned, and I think that’s what tonight was about.”
In the Longhorns’ first game as the No. 1-ranked team in the AP Top 25 since 2008, Manning received plenty of help. Running back Jaydon Blue rushed for 124 yards and scored four total touchdowns, and Texas’ defense held General Booty and the Warhawks (2-1) to 111 total yards on 2.2 yards per play.
Sarkisian said the game plan called for Manning to be aggressive in taking deep shots against ULM’s defense, and the former five-star recruit had some success with eight passes of 15 or more yards, including a 56-yard completion to Isaiah Bond and a 46-yarder to Matthew Golden. Manning connected with 11 receivers on the night.
“Having so many playmakers around you, it definitely brings up the comfort level for me,” he said. “We got a bunch of different receivers catch balls tonight. Just getting them in space and having them make plays is huge.”
Ewers exited Texas’ 56-7 win over UTSA last week after suffering an oblique strain. His status is considered day-to-day, and he could potentially return for the Longhorns’ SEC debut against Mississippi State next week. Manning shared SEC Freshman of the Week honors after producing 276 total yards and five touchdowns against UTSA in Ewers’ absence.
After their first SEC conference game at home against Mississippi State, the Longhorns have an idle week followed by showdowns with No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 2 Georgia in consecutive weeks.
A Texas team with national championship ambitions has played up to those expectations through four games, outscoring its opponents 190-22 and flexing its muscles in its toughest test with a 31-12 road win against then-No. 10 Michigan. With the Longhorns winning 16 of their past 18 games, Sarkisian is confident he has a team with talent, depth and maturity that’s built to contend in the SEC.
“I’m pleased with where we’re at, but it’s like everything I just told the team: The mission is far from over,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do and a lot of great games ahead of us.”
The White Sox (36-119) matched the AL mark set by the 2003 Detroit Tigers, who finished 43-119. One more defeat for Chicago over its final seven games would equal the post-1900 record of 120 losses by the 1962 expansion New York Mets, and two more would set a record. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders hold the overall major league record for losses at 20-134.
Chris Flexen (2-15) remained winless in his past 23 starts for a White Sox club that lost its 20th straight road series. According to ESPN Research, Chicago, which is now 9-48 since the All-Star break, is on pace for 124 losses.
“They’ve been playing some good baseball these last couple of days,” Bogaerts said of Chicago. “Obviously, we want to win every game by a big margin, but these guys are putting up a fight. They’re trying to be spoilers. Nothing’s been given easy to us these last couple of days. It’s been nice to be able to fight for it a little bit more than people would have expected.”
David Peralta also homered for San Diego (89-66), which maintained a two-game lead over Arizona for the top National League wild-card spot.
The Padres reduced their magic number to two for clinching their second playoff berth in three seasons. They received no help from the Atlanta Braves or the New York Mets, both of whom won Saturday.
Bogaerts gave the Padres a 2-0 lead with his shot to left-center field with no outs in the second inning off Flexen. It was Bogaerts’ 11th homer and it came with rookie Jackson Merrill aboard on a leadoff single.
“It’s a good lineup,” Chicago manager Grady Sizemore said of the Padres. “You make mistakes over the plate, and they might hurt you.”
Peralta homered with one out in the third, his eighth. Merrill, considered by some the front-runner for NL Rookie of the Year, hit an RBI single in the fifth.
Diaz hit a two-run shot in the eighth off former Padres reliever Enyel De Los Santos. It was his sixth of the season.
Mack Brown told ESPN on Saturday he’s not resigning after an emotional locker room scene with his players following North Carolina’s embarrassing 70-50 loss to James Madison, which is in only its third season as an FBS school.
Brown, a College Football Hall of Famer, said he told the players that it was his fault and would step away if he couldn’t get things fixed. The 70 points were the most ever given up by the Tar Heels, who fell to 3-1.
“I’m not resigning. I’ll be back at work Monday,” Brown told ESPN.
Brown, 73, is in his sixth season at North Carolina. He told ESPN he was aware of some reports and that messages in emotional locker rooms can be misconstrued, but was adamant that he’s not stepping down.
Brown has led UNC to winning records in four of his five seasons. The Tar Heels won eight games last season and nine the season before when they finished first in the ACC’s Coastal Division. Brown was at Texas for 16 seasons and won a national championship in 2005 and played for another in 2009. He resigned under pressure following the 2013 season, and after taking a break from coaching, returned in 2019 to North Carolina for his second stint in Chapel Hill. Brown was North Carolina’s coach from 1988 to 1997.