The Boston Bruins cement their place as the best in the NHL by beating Tampa Bay 2-1 to clinch the division title…and now they’re just one win away from matching their best regular-season record.
The Boston Bruins are winning so much that clinching their division wasn’t worth celebrating. Captain Patrice Bergeron didn’t even realize it had happened.
Garnet Hathaway scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period and the NHL’s best Boston Bruins clinched first place in the Atlantic Division with their sixth straight win, 2-1 over the Tampa Bay Lightning, on Saturday.
The win was the Bruins’ 56th and places them one behind the club record set in 1970-71. He also keeps them on pace to set the NHL record for wins in a regular season with 10 games remaining.
The Detroit Red Wings won 62 in 1995-96 and Tampa Bay matched it in their final game of the regular season (at Boston’s TD Garden) in 2018-19.
“I forgot about it because things were happening so fast,” Bruins first-year coach Jim Montgomery said when asked what he told his team about winning the division.
Garnet Hathaway #21 of the Boston Bruins celebrates her goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning
Linus Ullmark (35) and Patrice Bergeron (37) celebrate after defeating the Lightning
“We’re not really talking about the Atlantic Division, but it’s a tremendous feat with 10 games left.”
Bergeron added a power play goal for the Bruins and Linus Ullmark made 26 saves, raising his record to 36-5-1.
“You mean the last game?” Bergeron said when he was asked about winning the division. Informed that it had happened on Saturday, he said: ‘Oh, really.’
Victor Hedman had a short score for Rayo and Andrei Vasilevskiy saved 32 shots. Tampa Bay has lost four in a row.
‘I thought we played physically. I thought we played the way we want to play,” Hedman said. ‘That’s the mindset we went in and talked (about) before the game. I’m proud of the guys for the way we fought today.’
Positioned in front of the net, Hathaway took advantage of the rebound of Matt Grzelcyk’s shot from the left that went out of the air and into the net before Vasilevskiy could control it with 2:28 left in the period.
Ullmark parried Anthony Cirelli’s backhand on a partial breakaway with about seven minutes remaining.
With Lightning winger Pat Maroon in the penalty area with unsportsmanlike conduct for something he did on the bench, Bergeron was credited with his 27th goal when Brad Marchand’s pass struck his skate before bouncing off the net of the skate Hedman’s 6:46 in the opening period.
Hathaway #21 of the Boston Bruins and Pat Maroon #14 battle nine seconds into the first period
Hedman beat Ullmark with a shot from the top of the left circle for his goal just under three minutes later.
Maroon and Hathaway had to be separated before the opening puck dropped. It didn’t matter, they still had their gloves come off nine seconds into the game.
The scrum began when Tampa Bay center Ross Colton, who was handed a double minor for roughness, went after Boston center Jakub Lauko.
Asked if he thought the game would be physical at the start, Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said, “Yes,” before ending his short postgame press conference.