The Boston Bruins made history Sunday night, breaking the NHL record with their 63rd win of the season after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3.
On the back of David Pastrnak — who tallied a hat trick to reach 60 goals in a season for the first time in his career — the Bruins surpassed the previous single-season record of 62 wins set by the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning and the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings. Pastrnak also recorded the 300th goal of his career.
Gene J. Puskar / AP
The Bruins came out of the gate red-hot, taking an early lead off a goal from Charlie Coyle just 47 seconds into the first period. But the Flyers responded quickly, with a goal from Wade Allison just 17 seconds later to bring the score back even.
From there, it was the David Pastrnak show, with the right-winger scoring two goals in the second period and another in the third, and Bruins fans chanting "We want the cup!" as hats rained down on the ice.
"It's very special. It's been a lot of fun, I'm not gonna lie," Pastrnak told reporters after the game. "It's been enjoyable, especially with the group we have here ... we made history today."
The Bruins secured a sixth-straight win and reached 131 points on the season, just one back of the record set by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens, with two games still left to play.
The Bruins sit atop the NHL standings and will have home-ice advantage when the playoffs begin next week. They're also the betting favorite to win the Stanley Cup, but that's the least of their concerns with games left to play.
"We don't talk about winning the Stanley Cup now, we talk about game one. That's going to be our focus," Coach Jim Montgomery said after the game. "We think looking too far ahead creates anxiety. We believe in staying present ... we like to live in the moment. We're not looking at June, we're looking at April 17."
The Bruins will take on the Washington Capitals at home Tuesday night before heading to Montreal to cap off the season against the Canadiens Thursday night.
