Boston Bruins are Cruising Into 2023 as NHL’s Best Team
It’s a great time to be a fan of the Boston Bruins.
With two games left on the schedule before closing the book on 2022, the Bruins will be waltzing into 2023 as the top team in the NHL.
Entering play on Wednesday, the B’s own a 27-4-3 record, good for an NHL-best 57 points. They are five points clear of the streaking Carolina Hurricanes, and seven points clear of the third-place Toronto Maple Leafs, who also happen to be the closest challenger in the Atlantic Division.
Boston’s .838 point percentage blows that of every other NHL team out of the water, its 27 wins are four more than any other team, and its +55 goal differential is nearly double that of its rivals.
The Bruins could not have asked for a better start to the season.
Their dominance doesn’t stop there. The Bruins are third in the NHL on both sides of the special teams battle. Boston’s power play has converted 28.6% of its opportunities this season while the penalty kill has fended off 84.1% of the opposition’s advantages.
The season as a whole has been wildly successful in Beantown, and the month of December has been no different. The Bruins are 8-1-3 this month and are currently on a five-game point streak. They had won four straight prior to Tuesday’s overtime loss.
This is nothing new for the Bruins this season, as they have led in the standings and topped the Puck Prose power rankings more than any other team.
It’s been impressive to watch a team dominate in the way that Boston has, and it’s been done in the face of adversity, which is even more remarkable. Remember, the Bruins have a new head coach and began the season with Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, and others injured.
Given all of the early-season obstacles, I did not expect this to be a playoff team, much less the league leader at the start of January. This team deserves a ton of credit and should be treated as the favorite to win the Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference, and Stanley Cup.
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It will not be easy to replicate the success that the Bruins have enjoyed since the puck dropped in October, but they’ve shown no signs of being ready to take a step back.