The Bruins are the first team in NHL history to achieve this impressive feat originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
History was made in Monday night’s game between the Bruins and Oilers at Rogers Place, and we’re not talking about Connor McDavid joining the 50-goal club.
The Bruins defeated the Oilers 3-2 to improve their record to an NHL-leading 46-8-5. Boston’s triumph over the Oilers gave the Original Six franchise at least one win against all 31 of the other teams in the league. The B’s entered this four-game road trip needing to beat the Seattle Kraken last Thursday (and they did, 6-5) and the Oilers to accomplish that feat.
As a result, the Bruins are the first team in league history to beat 31 different opponents in a single regular season. Of course, the strong caveat here is that the league has only had 32 teams for two seasons. The Kraken became the 32nd team when they debuted in 2021-22.
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Other teams are likely to join the Bruins in defeating all 31 opposing teams in a single campaign at some point, but it’s still a very impressive accomplishment.
It also highlights how consistent the Bruins have been this season in regards to giving a strong effort almost every game. Plenty of contenders — including the Toronto Maple Leafs — have had plenty of slip ups and lackluster performances versus bad teams. It can sometimes be difficult for the elite teams to get up for opponents at the bottom of the standings. But the Bruins rarely play down to their competition.
The Bruins are undefeated against 20 of the other 31 teams. They’ve beaten 14 teams twice and the New York Islanders three times.
The last time the Bruins defeated every other team in the league was the 1990-91 regular season. The B’s made it to the 1991 Eastern Conference final, where they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.