Last night’s win over the Arizona Coyotes was more than just the Boston Bruin’s ninth win in their previous 11 games, and it was a continued show of dominance over their opponent that has now stretched over a decade. With the 3-2-win last night, the Bruins have now won 18 straight games against the inferior desert dogs, a new franchise record for longest win streak against one franchise. This franchise record-setting win also thrusts Boston into second place in NHL history as they sit behind the Montreal Canadiens. The latter won 23 straight games against the Washington Capitals between 1974 and 1978. Going into the game last night, the Bruins were tied with themselves for the second-longest win streak over another franchise with 17 consecutive games thanks to their dominance over the Ottawa Senators that stretched from 1992 to 1995.
For those fans that want to gauge how long this win streak has been going on, it all started back on 10/10/10 and was the Bruin’s second game of the regular season that year. This game also marked the first career goal for a young Tyler Seguin in his rookie season and was the last season the Bruins won a Stanley Cup. These two franchises seem to be trending in different paths, with the Bruins in the upward trajectory and the Coyotes in the downward course. It’s fair enough to say the Bruins have a legitimate chance to break the Montreal Canadiens League-leading record of 23 consecutive wins over another franchise in the seasons to come.
Recap of the Record Breaking Win
For those that missed the Bruins record-setting 18th consecutive win over the Arizona Coyotes, it was a fun one to watch as the Bruins got on the scoreboard early and often before allowing the Coyotes to make it a game. The game started strong thanks to a pair of early goals in the first period courtesy of the red hot Craig Smith, who has found his scoring rhythm as he now has seven goals in his last five goals that now includes two multi-goal games with one of them being a hat trick. The Bruins would eventually surrender a goal in the second period and another early in the third, allowing the Coyotes to tie the game two apiece. With 3:21 left in the third, Craig Smith’s fellow third-liner Charlie Coyle would score the eventual game-winning goal for the Bruins as the third line center took a pass from Trent Frederic and potted a beautiful backhanded goal past Arizona netminder Karel Vejmelka.
With a goal and assist on the night for Coyle, he now has six points in his last five games as he helps to elevate the third line of Smith, Frederic, and himself. Trent Frederic also remained red hot in the assists department as he dished out two apples in this win, now giving him six points in that same last five-game stretch as his two fellow linemates. The Bruins goal scoring wasn’t the only strong point of the night as rookie goaltender Jeremy Swayman continued his dominance between the pipes picking up his eighth consecutive win as he stopped 27 of 29 shots faced. The Bruins are trending in the right direction as the playoffs are quickly approaching as they pick up win after win looking to vault into one of the top three spots in the Atlantic Division. Boston looks to add to their win total when they take on the Blackhawks in Chicago Tuesday night on March 15th.
