* The Stanley Cup Playoffs start one week from today, but first the final five days of the regular season must determine the final three postseason teams, seven First Round matchups and 13 playoff seeds.
* There’s a new team atop the “Most Wins, Season” page on Records.NHL.com as the Bruins claimed their 63rd win of the season to break a record that last fell 27 years ago.
* The Avalanche recorded their 10th consecutive road win to set a new franchise mark while Mikko Rantanen became the ninth player, and second Colorado skater, to reach 100 points in 2022-23.
BRUINS SET ALL-TIME WINS RECORD, PASTRNAK HITS 60 GOALS Sunday was one for the history books as the Bruins (63-12-5, 131 points) set a new NHL record for most wins in a season and moved within one point of matching the most standings points in a single season. They did so on the back of a hat trick performance from David Pastrnak (3-1—4), who reached 60 goals on the season and 300 for his career in the victory.
* Boston also improved to 30-8-2 (62 points) as visitors in 2022-23 to become the third team in NHL history to record at least 30 road wins in a season, joining the 2005-06 Red Wings (31-7-3, 65 points) and 2018-19 Lightning (30-9-2, 62 points). The Bruins will have an opportunity to tie the NHL record in their season finale Thursday in Montreal.
* Pastrnak (60-49—109 in 80 GP) joined Connor McDavid as the second player to reach 60 goals in 2022-23, marking the ninth season in NHL history with multiple 60-goal scorers and first since 1995-96. After Auston Matthews became the first 60-goal scorer in a decade in 2021-22, the League has now seen three players hit the mark in a two-season span.
* Pastrnak became the third player in NHL history to record his 60th goal of a season with a hat trick tally, joining Mike Bossy (1980-81) and Wayne Gretzky (1981-82). He joined Phil Esposito (4x) as the second Boston player to produce a 60-goal season, became the eighth player to accumulate at least 300 goals in a Bruins uniform and recorded his 15th career hat trick to move ahead of Cam Neely (14) into sole possession of the second-most in Bruins history behind Esposito (26).
* All of these stats and plenty more on Pastrnak can be found in last night’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.
* ICYMI: Jeremy Swayman (34 saves), who extended his personal winning streak to seven games, remembered his mentor Red Gendron in an emotional post-game interview. Gendron had passed away two years to the day on Sunday, and Swayman was in Philadelphia at the time of his passing as he was again yesterday.
MACKINNON, RANTANEN HELP AVALANCHE TO 10TH STRAIGHT ROAD WIN After giving up a multi-goal lead, the Avalanche (49-24-6, 104 points) rallied from a two-goal deficit to take sole possession of first place in the Central Division standings. Backed by multi-point performances from Nathan MacKinnon (2-1—3; OTW) and Mikko Rantanen (2-2—4), Colorado set a new franchise record by earning their 10th consecutive road win (10-0-0 dating to March 13).
* MacKinnon scored his 11th career regular-season overtime goal to extend his own franchise record and his fifth game-winning goal over Colorado’s last seven contests. The only other players in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) to score at least five game-winning goals in a span of seven team games are Patrik Elias (5 GWG w/ NJD in 1997-98) and Michel Goulet (5 GWG w/ QUE in 1983-84).
* Rantanen scored his 53rd and 54th goals of the season to tie Joe Sakic (54 in 2000-01) for the most by an Avalanche player since the team moved to Colorado ahead of the 1995-96 season. With the four-point effort, Rantanen (54-48—102 in 79 GP) also eclipsed the 100-point benchmark for the first time in his career.
WILD EYE HOME ICE, PANTHERS SEEK 7TH STRAIGHT WIN ON ESPN, ESPN+ AND HULU
With the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs starting in one week, ESPN will carry a national broadcast in the U.S. featuring the Wild (45-24-10, 100 points) who are looking to stay in the hunt for their second division title and first since 2007-08 (Northwest Division). After returning from a 13-game absence Saturday, Minnesota’s leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov (39-35—74 in 66 GP) can become the first player in franchise history to post multiple 40-goal seasons.
* The network’s coverage will begin before that though as former junior teammates Mitchell Marner and Matthew Tkachuk will clash when the Maple Leafs (47-21-11, 105 points) visit the Panthers (42-31-7, 91 points) on ESPN+ and Hulu (SNP, SNO & TVAS in Canada).
* Florida has picked the right time for its longest winning streak of the season (6-0-0 since March 29) as they currently pace the field of four teams competing for the final two playoff spots in the East.
* Marner (30-68—98 in 78 GP), who was drafted in Sunrise, Fla., in 2015, needs two points for his first 100-point season in the NHL – a feat Tkachuk (40-68—108 in 77 GP) has now achieved twice. In 2015-16, both players hit the milestone with the London Knights of the OHL before combing for 22 points at the Memorial Cup en route to winning the Canadian national junior championship together.
THE FINAL 40: LOOKING AHEAD TO THE FINAL GAMES OF THE REGULAR SEASON
The final five days of the season will include 40 games and determine 13 playoff seeds, seven First Round matchups, three division titles and the final three teams that will qualify for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs – which start one week from today.
* This is the first time since 2008-09 that at least seven First Round matchups are still “TBD” entering the final five days of the regular season.
* While Vegas and Edmonton have secured home ice in the Pacific Division, there could be movement Monday as Seattle (45-26-8, 98 points) will look to overtake Los Angeles (45-25-10, 100 points) into third place. The Kraken last ranked among the top three in the division through games of March 13 but have held the first Wild Card every day since (a span of 27 days entering Monday).
* For the first time since the Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central and Pacific Divisions were introduced in 2013-14, the No. 1 seed in at least three divisions has a lead of two points or less entering the final five days of scheduled play. This excludes the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons whose schedules were paused or extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
* Winnipeg have been in a playoff spot for 165 consecutive days dating to Oct. 27 (when they had eight points) but hold a maximum advantage of three points in the three-team battle for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
* The Predators will go head-to-head against a club in the Western Conference Wild Card race for a second straight game following a defeat at the hands of the Jets on Saturday.
* Four players enter the final stretch of the 2022-23 season within six points of a 100-point campaign: Elias Pettersson (38-61—99 in 77 GP), Mitchell Marner (30-68—98 in 78 GP), Erik Karlsson (23-75—98 in 79 GP) and Jack Hughes (42-54—96 in 76 GP). Should they all hit the mark it would bring the season total to 13 – only five seasons in NHL history have seen 13+ players score 100 points (most recently 21 in 1992-93).
* Connor McDavid has a chance to become the first player in NHL history to record three separate point streaks of 15+ games in a single season. It would be the fifth such streak of his career, which would equal Peter Stastny (5x) for the third-most point streaks of 15+ games in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (19x) and Mario Lemieux (7x).
* A trio of players in reach of their first career 50-goal season could bump the League’s overall total in 2022-23 to seven, with Brayden Point (49 G), Tage Thompson (46 G) and Jason Robertson (45 G) looking to join Connor McDavid (64 G), David Pastrnak (60 G), Mikko Rantanen (54 G) and Leon Draisaitl (51 G). It has been 27 years since the NHL saw seven or more 50-goal scorers in one season (8 in 1995-96).
Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.
From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.
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