The Boston Bruins keep making NHL history this season.
The Bruins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-3, Sunday to record their 63rd win of the season. That topped the old NHL record of 62, previously held by the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning and the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings.
Boston then topped the Washington Capitals, 5-2, Tuesday to now have 133 points, which tops the record of 132 set by the Canadiens in 1976-77.
That Canadiens team also had 60 wins as part of a three-year run in which they hit at least 58 wins each year.
The Bruins can add to their record in their regular season finale at Montreal on Thursday night.
This Boston team has its fanbase going crazy and certainly considering a wager or two now that Massachusetts sports betting is on the scene.
This incredible season does beg the question: Does a 60-plus win season turn into a Stanley Cup?
BetMassachusetts.com — your source for Massachusetts betting promos — took a look at league history. This is what we found out.
60-Win NHL Teams in Playoffs
Assessing the Playoff Results
It is no surprise the Canadiens won the Cup each of those years as 1975-76 started a four-year run of Cups for the legendary dynasty before the Canadiens era gave way to dynasties of the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers.
The 1995-96 Red Wings weren’t quite so lucky. They lost in the Western Conference finals to the Colorado Avalanche.
The Lightning fared even worse, getting swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round in a historic upset.
However, both teams bounced back the following years — each winning the Stanley Cup in the next two seasons while having worse regular season records — showing that they might have learned how to balance regular season success with the ability to have everybody amped and ready for a playoff run.
The Boston Bruins are not built like those more recent 60-win teams, as those teams were at the start of great runs of hockey and were still learning how to win. The lessons they learned losing in those playoff runs were as valuable as the 60+ win seasons were. Players such as Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, and Niklas Lidstrom with Detroit and Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman with Tampa Bay had yet to taste team success in the NHL.
The Boston Bruins still share parts of the same core they won the Stanley Cup with in 2011 as Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Krejci all played big roles on that team. They have also been to three finals together, losing in 2013 and 2019, and seem to contend every year.
With Bergeron and Krejci on expiring contracts and all three of them on the wrong side of 35, this team has much more playoff experience and much less long-term potential than the Red Wings and Lightning did during their runs.
In addition to those veterans, the Bruins have studs David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and Linus Ullmark on the team, all of whom can make arguments for being the best player at their position in the entire league this year.
Pastrnak scored his 60th goal in the 63rd win of the season, one of only two players to surpass that number this season. Connor McDavid and his generational 150-point season is the only reason Pastrnak won’t be putting his name on the Hart Trophy as league MVP this year.
McAvoy missed a couple weeks to start the year but has been lights out since, putting up a Norris-trophy caliber season. Goaltender Ullmark is the likely winner of the Vezina Trophy.
The presence of these players is a big reason why Boston currently has super short odds to win the Stanley Cup at Massachusetts sports betting apps.
DraftKings Massachusetts has the Bruins favored to win the Cup at +350, ahead of the defending champion Colorado Avalanche (+650).
FanDuel Massachusetts has the Bruins favored also, with +370 odds. The Avalanche (+700) and Toronto Maple Leafs (+900) are next.
You can find a FanDuel and DraftKings Massachusetts promo code here at BetMassachusetts.com.
Even though recent history with these regular season powerhouses suggests the Bruins might not be a great bet for playoff success, the veteran experience of this team could generate a result more similar to the Canadiens of the 1970s.
