As a service to fans who have a general interest in the National Hockey League but have no idea what’s happened since the Colorado Avalanche raised the Stanley Cup by preventing a Tampa Bay Lightning three-peat last year, we’re happy to provide this FAQ as a guide to the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.
For you die-hard puckheads: Here is your official refresher before the games begin. Enjoy!
More: Playoff Central
Full schedule
Regular-season stats
Wait, they’re holding a tournament for the 2023 Stanley Cup? Shouldn’t they just give it to the Boston Bruins?
If the NHL was ever going to cut to the chase and hand the chalice over to a regular-season juggernaut, it would have been this Boston Bruins team.
Boston entered the season with many wondering if its window to win had closed, with a new coach in Jim Montgomery and forward Brad Marchand and defenseman Charlie McAvoy missing the start because of offseason surgery.
Free agent centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci believed differently and re-signed with the team for another crack at the Cup. They were, as it turns out, quite wise to do so.
A brief honor roll of the Bruins’ achievements this season:
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NHL record for wins in a single season (65), previously held by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning.
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NHL record for points in a single season (135), previously held by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens.
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Went wire-to-wire in first place of the Atlantic Division.
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NHL record for most consecutive home victories to start a season (14).
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Tied NHL record for most road victories (31).
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First team in NHL history to post at least three road winning streaks of seven or more games in a season.
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Set franchise records for home and away wins.
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Became the fifth team in NHL history to have a 60-goal scorer (David Pastrnak, 61) and the leading goaltender in wins (Linus Ullmark, 40).
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Finished 61 goals ahead of Dallas in goal differential, becoming the third team in the expansion era (since 1967-68) to finish with a goal differential of 60 goals or better over the second-place team in that category.
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Led the NHL in wins, points, goals-against average, penalty kill, wins after leading in the first or second period, wins when scoring first and wins when their opponent scores first.
The Bruins also won the Presidents’ Trophy — which is probably why they won’t win the Stanley Cup, because they’re now cursed.
What’s the Presidents’ Trophy curse?
There have been 36 previous Presidents’ Trophy winners for having…
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