Rule changes boost Bruins in regular-season record quest
Boston Bruins' Linus Ullmark, left, and Jeremy Swayman celebrate after defeating the New York Rangers during an NHL hockey game, Saturday, March 4, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) Credit: AP/Michael Dwyer
BOSTON — It takes a little bit of hockey history to put the Boston Bruins' run at a record-breaking season in context.
The Bruins are on pace to surpass 62 wins, the NHL record set in 1995-96 by the Red Wings and matched by the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning. Detroit did it in the first year of the current 82-game schedule. Before that, teams played anywhere from 22 games per season at the league’s founding in 1917 to 84 games from 1992-94.
The Bruins also have a shot at the NHL record of 132 points set by the 1976-77 Canadiens, who played an 80-game season and didn’t have the opportunity to accumulate points for overtime or shootout wins.
For more than 40 years, games were called a draw if they were tied at the end of regulation, and both teams received one point. Since 2005, games cannot end in a tie. Teams now play a five-minute sudden death overtime, followed by a shootout if necessary; the winning team gets two points, the OT or shootout loser gets one point and a regulation loser gets zero.
“The game has changed so much,” said Murray Wilson, a forward on the record-setting Canadiens.
It's important to view achievements in the context of their era. When Roger Maris approached Babe Ruth’s single-season mark of 60 home runs, MLB Commissioner Ford Frick suggested that record books note Maris was playing in a 162-game season, while Ruth had just 154 tries.
More recently, NFL quarterbacks have taken advantage of decades of offense-friendly rule changes to obliterate marks set by their predecessors.
The top three all-time leading NBA scorers, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone are seen during halftime of the NBA basketball All-Star game Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, in Salt Lake City. Credit: AP/Rick Bowmer
And this season, when LeBron James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA scoring record of 38,387 points, he did so with the benefit of the 3-pointer. The bonus shot was added in 1979 — midway through Abdul-Jabbar’s tenure.
James made 2,237 3-pointers to reach the record. Abdul-Jabbar made one.
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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James walks to the corner of the court during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023, in Los Angeles. Credit: AP/Mark J. Terrill
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