Bruins clinch playoff berth, make history

BOSTON — The inevitable became official Saturday. The Boston Bruins are in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.

There wasn’t much doubt that was going to happen. It was just a question of when. The Bruins entered Saturday on the brink. They needed a win and a little help from one of two places to seal the deal. As it turned out a former Washington Capital and the current Washington Capitals made it happen.

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Former Capital Garnet Hathaway, who the Bruins acquired at the trade deadline, took care of the first part, scoring the game-winning goal in Boston’s 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Red Wings at TD Garden.

The win made the 2022-23 Bruins (50-9-5) the fastest team to 50 wins in NHL history.

His former teammates took care of the rest at Washington thumped the New York Islanders, 5-1 to provide the necessary help. It meant the Bruins didn’t have to wait to see if the Canucks beat the Senators before putting playoff tickets on sale.

The Bruins still have plenty of things to play for in the regular season. With 18 games left are 17 points ahead of Toronto (which has 17 games left) and 21 points ahead of Tampa in the Atlantic Division. Boston is 11 points ahead of Carolina (17 games left) to secure the best record in both the Eastern Conference and the NHL as they try to secure home-ice advantage in any round of the postseason they participate in.