Every so often this season, especially at the beginning of the campaign, the Boston Bruins made history. More came their way following Thursday’s 7-1 rout of the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden.
The Bruins became the fastest team in NHL history to record 100 points, needing just 61 games to do so and topping the feat the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens set in 62 contests.
The addition of Jim Montgomery behind the bench is a huge reason for the abundant amount of success, but he’s not looking for any credit. Instead, Montgomery wants the spotlight from the Bruins’ accomplishments so far this season to shine bright on general manager Don Sweeney.
“It’s been really amazing to watch them want to be great,” Jim Montgomery told reporters after the win over the Sabres, per team-provided video. “With the schedule and everything, it’s really impressive. But you can’t do it unless you have two great goalies, you have a D-corps that can shut people down and can help you score and you got four lines that help you every night.
“I don’t think Don Sweeney gets enough credit.”
Sweeney has pushed all the right buttons this season, starting with the need for a coaching change and helping to bring in Montgomery. He then re-signed Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to team-friendly deals and has gone all in ahead of the NHL trade deadline with the Bruins the odds-on favorite to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Sweeney has sure spent plenty of draft capital over the last week-plus, but acquiring Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway has paid off. Orlov recorded three points against the Sabres, giving him seven in four games with the Bruins. Craig Smith, who was sent to the Washington Capitals in the trade, registered 10 points all season with Boston.
And with the Eastern Conference in an arms race trying to catch the Bruins, Sweeney didn’t stand pat on what he had. He was aggressive early Thursday by trading for Tyler Bertuzzi, further signaling his faith that this team can win it all. Sweeney put another feather in his cap by signing star winger David Pastrnak to a long-term extension as well.
So when it comes to the Bruins’ success, there’s no doubt Don Sweeney has played a huge part in it.
“You don’t have a team that wins this consistently unless your general manager has built a great team and he has,” Montgomery said. “We got drafted players, we got traded players and we have home-grown players that have been here for a long time that love being Bruins. It speaks volumes as to what he’s built here.”
