BOSTON — The Boston Bruins have broken team records left and right throughout their 15-2-0 start, but Hampus Lindholm is building upon a record of his own.
After finishing as a plus-2 in Boston’s thrashing of the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, Lindholm officially has the Bruins record for most consecutive regular season games without a negative plus/minus as a defensemen. That’s more than Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque, Zdeno Chara, Eddie Shore or Brad Park. That’s five current or future Hockey Hall of Famers, none of which who have accomplished this feat.
Lindholm’s record stands at 27, and since arriving to Boston at the NHL Trade Deadline on March 19, the 28-year-old is a plus-30 overall during the regular season. He has especially thrived in Jim Montgomery’s system, scoring four goals and tallying 14 assists through 17 games. The only NHL defensemen with more points than Lindholm are New York Rangers’ Adam Fox, Buffalo Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin and San Jose Sharks’ Erik Karlsson.
Montgomery reacted to the statistic postgame Thursday.
“It is amazing,” Montgomery said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Not as amazing as when — I think it was Bobby Orr one year was plus-144?”
The number was actually plus-124, but the point remains. Orr was pretty good.
Montgomery did shell out some credit to Lindholm in the end.
“That’s amazing. With all the great defensemen… wow. That’s saying a lot, he’s playing great hockey for us,” Montgomery finished.
Lindholm and the Bruins will welcome the Chicago Blackhawks to TD Garden on Saturday, capping off a three-game homestand. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
