Boston Bruins Set Huge Franchise Milestone Against Devils

The Boston Bruins are the first American team, and just the second team in NHL history to reach the 3000 regular season win mark. The only other team in the history of the NHL to reach 3000 wins happens to be the Montreal Canadiens, which would have made a Bruins’ win at the Winter Classic that much better. The Bruins could have hit not only won their 3000th game on the major scale that was the Winter Classic, they could have done so against their long-time rival, and the only other team to reach that milestone in the Montreal Canadiens. The next closest team to 3000 wins is the Detroit Red Wings who have amassed an impressive 2837 wins in the history of their franchise.

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“When you look at 3,000 it means the team’s been around for a while. I’ve always been proud being part of an Original Six team” said Bruins’ head coach Claude Julien. The Boston Bruins, of course, are not Claude Julien’s first Original Six team, as he coached the Montreal Canadiens from the 2002-03 season up until the 2005-06 season before joining the New Jersey Devils in the 2006-07 season. Claude Julien helped the devils earn a 47-24-8 record that season while earning 107 points before being fired. His firing from the New Jersey Devils, especially after the season his team had, was shocking, but a blessing in disguise for the Boston Bruins. Although Julien probably won’t admit it, earning the win against the Devils probably meant that much more to him.

Since 1924, the Boston Bruins have been able to find varying levels of success, including two president’s trophies, six Stanley Cups, and quite a few super star players that won individual awards as part of their contributions to the team. The Bruins should absolutely reflect on this win as well as the history of the franchise in an attempt to create motivation to play hard for the remainder of the season and beyond.

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The Boston Bruins currently sit in fourth in the Atlantic Division with 46 points and occupy the first wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. With a few games in hand to work with, the Bruins have the potential to build on their 3000th win and make up some ground in the Atlantic Division race. There is a lot of hockey left to be played this season with the Bruins not yet reaching the halfway mark on their season, and even though the Bruins should appreciate the magnitude of this win, they will need to turn their focus quickly to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.

The Boston Bruins have a tough road trip to start the month of January following their 0-2 start to the month, and they came up big with their win against the New Jersey Devils on Friday. The team played an almost-perfect game against the Devils, finishing the game with 31 shots on net while only allowing 20 on back-up goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, scoring four goals and only allowing one, and capitalizing on the power play while effectively killing off their own penalties.

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The Bruins will get a welcome return to the lineup on Saturday as Brad Marchand is officially eligible to return to the lineup after his three game suspension that came on a low hit on Ottawa Senators’ forward Mark Borowiecki. Saturday’s should be full of emotion and action as the Bruins once again take on the Ottawa Senators, and the hope will be that they play a disciplined game and continue playing a simple game.

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