Bruins edge Devils, tie NHL record for wins in season at 62

The Boston Bruins tied the NHL record for most wins in a season at 62 with a 2-1 victory against the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden in Boston on Saturday.

Pavel Zacha scored two goals for Boston (62-12-5), which won its fifth straight game and tied the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning for most wins in a season in NHL history. Linus Ullmark made 29 saves.
"It's special (to tie the record), no doubt about that," Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron said. "I think all year it's been a lot of fun. I feel like we've stuck to our process, stayed in the moment without really thinking about all the outside noise."
The Bruins will try to set the record when they play at the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday (6 p.m. ET; TNT, SN1, TVAS, ESPN+, SN NOW).
"Anytime you're talking about putting your team's name, putting our spoked 'B' in the history books, with most wins ever in a regular season, it's special," Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. "Collectively, what's made this season is how hard our guys play for each other."

Mackenzie Blackwood made 38 saves.New Jersey (50-22-8), which remained one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first place in the Metropolitan Division. Carolina, which lost 4-3 at the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, has a game in hand.
New Jersey is just two points ahead of the New York Rangers for second place; the Rangers won 4-0 at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
Jack Hughes had an assist to tie Patrik Elias (2000-01) for the franchise record for points in a season (96).
"That's one [heck] of an accomplishment," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said of Hughes. "He's put together one heck of a year."
Zacha, who was traded to Boston by New Jersey for forward Erik Haula on July 13, 2022, scored twice in 2:44 early in the first period to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead.
Zacha scored a power-play goal off a deflection in the slot at 2:00, then on a backhand from the bottom of the right face-off circle that deflected off the right pad of Blackwood and over the line at 4:44.
"I think his ability to make plays in all three zone and how fast he's defending have been real positive," Montgomery said of Zacha.
It was the third multigoal game for Zacha this season. He has scored an NHL career-high 20 goals.
"Our defensive system is a little different, but he's a smart hockey player," Montgomery said. "Being around David Krejci and David Pastrnak on a line with them all year, I think he's learned how to raise his intensity level so that he's becoming such an effective hockey player in this league. He's a top-six hockey player and a really good one."

Jesper Bratt pulled the Devils within 2-1 at 6:21 of the first when he controlled a lead pass from Hughes to break free against Ullmark before going backhand-forehand down the slot. Hughes extended his point streak to six games (two goals, eight assists). He has 42 goals and 54 assists this season.
"It was a tough game," Bratt said. "We came back, played strong, but we didn't play fast enough in our defensive zone."
New Jersey had three shots during a four-minute power play when defenseman Charlie McAvoy received a double-minor for high-sticking at 19:44 of the second.
"They're a good penalty-killing team," Ruff said. "You have to execute. If you don't execute it's going down the ice. I felt our entries weren't clean enough and it allowed them to kill off that four minutes."

Ullmark made 11 saves in the second period, including a breakaway and rebound attempt by Hughes at 2:07. Blackwood stopped 10 shots in the second, including consecutive saves on a breakaway chance by Pastrnak at 5:35.
"We always want to play well and now we're lucky enough to say we've played well 62 times," Ullmark said. "We still believe in ourselves and trust the process. As happy as we are right now with this, we can pat ourselves a little bit on the shoulder. There's a new day tomorrow."
NOTES: Boston forward Taylor Hall had four shots in 12:12 of ice time in his return after missing 20 games with a lower-body injury. Montgomery said earlier in the day that Hall will not play at Philadelphia on Sunday. ... Ullmark got his 39th win to pass Tiny Thompson (38 in 1929-30) for the second most in a season in Bruins history, behind Pete Peeters (40 in 1982-83). … The Bruins' 129th point tied the 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens for the third most in a season in NHL history, trailing the 1976-77 Canadiens (132 points) and 1995-96 Red Wings (131 points). … Boston won its 33rd home game, tying its record for the most in a season (1970-71, 1973-74). Four teams in NHL history have had more: the 1995-96 Red Wings (36), 1975-76 Flyers (36) and 2021-22 Florida Panthers (34). ... New Jersey remained one win shy of tying its record for most in a season (2008-09) after winning 50 games for the second time in its history. … Boston played without Krejci (lower-body injury) for a third straight game.