The NHL has entered the All Star Break, which comes at a great time for the Boston Bruins who will get some much needed rest. The Bruins sit atop the league standings with a record of 39-7-5 and 83 points. They are on pace to beat the all time record for wins in the regular season and points. 

The Bruins are currently on pace for 63 wins, which would beat the current record of 62 held by the Detroit Red Wings and the Tampa Bay Lightning, and are on pace for 133 points which would beat the current record of 132 held by the Montreal Canadiens. 

These stats alone can’t describe what a magical year it has been for the bruins and their fans, but there is still a lot of hockey left to be played.

 Two of the Bruins will be representing the team at the All Star skills competition and game, forward David Pastrnak and goaltender Linus Ullmark. 

Both players have had outstanding years for the team. Pastrnak has 38 goals and 34 assists totaling 72 points through 51 games. Ullmark is leading almost every stat column for goaltenders and looks like the favorite to win the Vezina trophy with a 1.90 GAA, .937 SV%, and 26 wins through 32 games started. 

The Bruins get a week and a half break to rest and work on improving their play. The team had hit a tough slide before the break, losing 3 straight games for the first time all year. 

They lost back to back games in Florida, first to the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 and then had a heartbreaking loss to the Florida Panthers 4-3 in overtime. The game was tied 2-2 with under a minute left in the third period when David Pastrnak scored to put the Bruins up by 1. 

Unfortunately, the team couldn’t hang on as Panthers captain Alexander Barkov scored with 2 seconds left to tie the game and send it to overtime. The Panthers then quickly ended the game in overtime. 

The Bruins would look to bounce back the next day against the second ranked team in the league, the Carolina Hurricanes. The Bruins came out flat and were dominated from start to finish in a 4-1 loss in Carolina. 

Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron was asked by a reporter if fatigue was a factor for them right now and Bergeron replied “Yeah, I think so. I think you can’t deny that, that being said, you have to be pros and make sure you bring it every night. A back-to-back on the road, lots of hockey, it’s part of it. That being said, nothing that other teams aren’t seeing. It’s part of the schedule that we all have. So we have to be better.” 

The Bruins would play one more game before the All Star Break which turned out to be a much needed win against their bitter rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

The Bruins came out strong and kept their foot on the gas all night winning 5-2 in Toronto. This game looked more like the high flying Bruins we have seen all year. Pavel Zacha was the star for the Bruins posting 2 goals and the team high 6 shots on net in the win. 

Head Coach, Jim Montgomery, told reporters “I think we got back to our identity tonight and that was Boston Bruins Hockey. It was fun to watch.” 

The Bruins won’t play again until Saturday, February 11, against Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. 

The team will look to use the momentum from the win over Toronto and their rested bodies to come out with a win. The Bruins and their fans are hopeful for a deep playoff run coming in the spring, hopefully ending with raising Lord Stanley’s cup.