Bruins make history against the Flyers, setting the single-season NHL win record at 63

On Sunday night at the Wells Fargo Center, the Boston Bruins made history while their fans turned the building into a TD Garden home game.

The Bruins earned their 63rd win of the season with their 5-3 defeat of the Flyers, setting the NHL single-season record in front of black-and-gold-packed stands to chants of “We want The Cup.” The previous record of 62 wins was shared by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning. David Pastrňák, the league’s No. 2 goal scorer, led the Bruins with a hat trick while the Flyers lost their seventh straight.

“All the stuff with us getting the crap kicked out of us here the past couple of weeks, we lose another game, Bruins fans in there, that is part of the process,” coach John Tortorella said. “That’s where we are in our process. Losing the games, this is the hard part of the process, but it’s a part that we have to go through.”

But the Flyers tried to play spoiler. Goalie Felix Sandström made 29 saves on 34 shots, including a robbery on Pavel Zacha’s shorthanded breakaway. Winger Owen Tippett drew the Flyers within one goal halfway through the third period with a tap-in on the rush. However, Zacha scored with three minutes remaining in the third, dumping cold water on the Flyers’ comeback attempt.

With defensemen Nick Seeler out sick and Tony DeAngelo a healthy scratch for a third straight game, Tortorella went with 13 forwards and five defensemen. The Flyers had four defensemen at their disposal briefly when Ivan Provorov left the game in the third period after taking a hit behind the Flyers’ net. He returned to the bench nearly five minutes later.

The Bruins took control the moment the puck dropped. Forty-seven seconds into the game, AHL call-up defenseman Connor Carrick made a pass off the wall for center Charlie Coyle in the high slot. His one-timer beat Sandström’s blocker side as the Bruins pulled ahead, 1-0.

But the Flyers didn’t back down. As the Bruins attempted to exit their own zone shortly, forwards James van Riemsdyk and Scott Laughton won a puck battle at the blue line. Winger Wade Allison fired a long-range shot on Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, who tried to draw the puck towards him so he could freeze it with his glove. But he couldn’t control the rebound and Allison knocked it home to tie the game at 1.

“It could have gotten away from us,” Tortorella said. “I think [Swayman] misplays it, helps us. But we’re opportunistic.”

Entering the game, one of the keys to a Flyers win would be keeping the prolific Pastrňák at bay. In his last seven games, he has eight goals and two assists for 10 points. But the Flyers struggled with that task in the second period. Two minutes in, Pastrňák shot the puck from the high slot and Sandström appeared to see it the whole way. But the puck slipped through Sandström’s five hole for a 2-1 Bruins lead.

Pastrňák nearly picked up his second of the night minutes later when he cleaned up a rebound and went bardown from the bottom of the left circle. But the officials deemed that defenseman Connor Clifton interfered with Sandström in the crease and called off the goal. However, Pastrňák earned his second of the night three minutes later with a one-timer from the top of the left circle to make it 3-1.

Thirty-nine seconds into the third period, Pastrňák found the back of the net again on a 2-on-1 to complete the hat trick as the Bruins went up, 4-2. He raised his season total in goals to 60 and 300 on his career. Only Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid has more (64).

“He’s got a great shot,” Sandström said of Pastrňák. “Even though you know where he is, he’s shooting it real quick and with good precision.”

Despite falling into a two-goal hole early in the second period, the Flyers stuck within through both earned and given opportunities. The Flyers went on the power play three times in the second period, taking on the Bruins’ top-ranked penalty kill (87.23%). The Flyers floundered on their first two-man advantages (two shots total), allowing three Bruins shorthanded shots. But they mustered four shots on their third opportunity, only to have it cut short when winger Travis Konecny was whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct (grabbing Clifton’s visor).

While the power play went 0-for-3, the Flyers created chances at even strength in the second. Winger Joel Farabee took advantage of a Bruins defensive-zone turnover and scored to draw the Flyers within one, 3-2, with six minutes remaining in the second period. Tippett drew the Flyers closer with his tally in the third period, but the Flyers capped out at three goals.

The Flyers play their final home game of the season on Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia).