Following Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Capitals, the Bruins have 30 games remaining before the playoffs begin. There's a lot that can happen between now and their season-finale on April 13, so let's examine some of the questions that face the Bruins at this point:
1. Will the Bruins break the all-time points record as a team?
Before Saturday's defeat, the Bruins were on pace for 133 points, which would be one better than the 1976-77 Canadiens who finished with 132.
The Bruins have been on a historic pace all season long and will have a chance to finish with the most points in franchise history. In 1970-71 the B's earned 121 points, which is eighth-most all-time.
With that said, the road will be anything but easy as the Bruins will face 24 teams with a record above .500 winning percentage while having to endure a jam-packed March schedule with 15 games in 31 days.
It's really hard to bet against the Bruins this season, but it seems unlikely they'll pass the Canadiens' mark.
2. What will the Bruins do by the trade deadline?
The NHL trade deadline is less than a month away on March 3 and the Bruins are expected to be buyers.
History has been kind to general manager Don Sweeney of late with Taylor Hall and Hampus Lindholm highlighting their last two deadline deals. It isn't clear if the B's will grab another big name this year, but they've been linked to a few defensemen.
Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman's latest 32 Thoughts blog listed the Bruins as being interested in Coyotes' Jakob Chychrun, Blue Jackets' Vladislav Gavrikov and Canucks' Luke Schenn.
It's odd that the Bruins seem to be focusing on defense when they have nine NHL-caliber defensemen in the organization. Yes, you can never have enough defensemen come playoff time, but the outside interest suggests guys like Jakub Zboril and Mike Reilly might not be sticking around much longer.
If the Bruins are going to go big, a center should be the priority. Who knows how long Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci have left so might as well try and find another guy up the middle for the future.
A depth addition somewhere throughout the lineup is almost a guarantee, however.
3. Will David Pastrnak score 60 goals?
Phil Esposito is the only Bruins player in franchise history to surpass 60 goals, and the Hall-of-Famer did it four times, with a mind-boggling 76 tucks in 1970-71 highlighting the feat.
Pastrnak currently has 38 in 52 games and will likely pass 50 goals for the first time in his career. Scoring 60 is a whole differnent animal though and only three players have eclipsed the mark since 2000. Auston Matthews was the most recent with 60 last season.
Pastrnak tends to score in streaks so expect the chase it to come down to the last few games of the season.
4. Can Linus Ullmark carry over his success into the playoffs?
Ullmark is the runaway winner for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goalie until this point. With the best goals-against average, save percentage and most wins in the NHL, Ullmark has arguably been an underrated aspect to this Bruins season.
Last season, Ullmark only played twice in the opening round series against the Hurricanes and lost both games. Barring an injury, Ullmark will be the Game 1 starter and the pressure will be on to prove his worth in the postseason.
5. Who will the Bruins play in the first round?
In that same vein, the Bruins appear to have the top spot in the Atlantic locked down and will therefore play the second wild card during the first round.
At this point, it appears five teams are in the mix with the Capitals, Penguins, Islanders, Panthers and Sabres all jockeying for those two positions. The Caps and Pens are the last two in as of Feb. 11, but only four points separate the next three teams.
It's a shot in the dark to pick the B's opponent but let's go with the Penguins as they always seem to find a way into the postseason.