PATRICE BERGERON

The Presidents’ Trophy curse was too strong — even for a team coming off the best regular season in NHL history.

Boston captain Patrice Bergeron is not accompanying the Bruins on their trip to Florida for Games 3 and 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Brandon Montour scored twice and the Florida Panthers had four third-period goals to beat the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins 6-3 on Wednesday night and send Boston to its first loss in 10 games.

Brad Marchand scored his 50th career playoff goal, David Pastrnak and Jake DeBrusk also scored, and the NHL-best Boston Bruins opened the playoffs by beating the Florida Panthers 3-1.

The Boston Bruins have broken the NHL record for wins in a season after beating the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 behind David Pastrnak’s hat trick that got him to 60 goals for the first time in his career.

Garnet Hathaway scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period and the NHL-best Boston Bruins wrapped up first place in the Atlantic Division with their sixth straight victory, beating Tampa Bay 2-1.

The Boston Bruins became the first NHL team to clinch a playoff berth this season.

David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists just a few hours after signing a new contract and the surging Boston Bruins became the fastest team in NHL history to reach 100 points by beating the Buffalo Sabres 7-1.

The Boston Bruins set the NHL record for most home victories to start a season with their 12th straight, topping the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in overtime with a power-play goal from David Pastrnak.

Patrice Bergeron got his 1,000th career point with a second-period assist and the Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 for their seventh straight win.

David Pastrnak scored two goals as the Boston Bruins tied the NHL record for most consecutive home wins to open a season with 11 by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1.

Bruins President Cam Neely says the team “dropped the ball” with its internal vetting of Mitchell Miller, ultimately leading to the decision to rescind its contract offer to the defenseman.

David Pastrnak had a goal and three assists to help the Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 in each team's season opener.

The Boston Bruins are getting the gang back together.

Executives around the NHL expect plenty of movement before free agency opens Wednesday.

The Boston Bruins have hired Jim Montgomery as their new coach.

The Boston Bruins have fired coach Bruce Cassidy several weeks after losing in the first round of the playoffs.

Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron has won the Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward for a record-breaking fifth time.

Max Domi scored twice in the second period while Antti Raanta had 27 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 to win the deciding Game 7 of their first-round playoff series.

The NHL is wrapping up the first round of the playoffs with a rare treat.

Brad Marchand scored one goal and assisted on another to lead the Boston Bruins past the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 and send their first-round playoff series to a decisive seventh game.

Brad Marchand had two goals and three assists to help the Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 and even their first-round playoff series a two games apiece.

Brad Marchand had a goal and two assists to help the Boston Bruins take their first lead against the Hurricanes all season and hold onto it for a 4-2 victory over Carolina in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.

Sebastian Aho and Nino Niederreiter each scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes overcame the early loss of goalie Antti Raanta to beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.

The eight playoff teams in the Eastern Conference have been set since before the All-Star break.

Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf says he will retire at the conclusion of the regular season.

The winningest goaltender in Boston Bruins history is calling it a career.

Washington star Alexander Ovechkin and high-scoring Edmonton teammates Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl headline the rosters for the NHL All-Star Weekend announced Thursday.

Brad Marchand scored two goals 15 seconds apart in the first period and completed the hat trick with a short-handed goal in the second, leading the Boston Bruins to a 5-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

The Boston Bruins have signed goalie Tuukka Rask to a prorated, $1 million contract for the rest of the season.

Goalkeeper Tuukka Rask is getting closer to returning to the Boston Bruins after signing a professional tryout agreement with Providence of the American Hockey League.

The NHL has postponed all games for the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers through at least the Christmas weekend amid worsening COVID-19 test results across the league.

The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers were to play in an empty Bell Centre on Thursday night due to a spiraling rise of COVID-19 cases.

U.S. sports leagues are seeing rapidly increasing COVID-19 outbreaks with dozens of players in health and safety protocols, amid an ongoing surge by the delta variant of the coronavirus and rising cases of the highly transmissible omicron mutation.

A person with direct knowledge of discussions tells The Associated Press that the NHL is reintroducing enhanced COVID-19 protocols.

Artemi Panarin scored the first of New York’s three third-period goals with 8:25 left and the Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 to give Gerard Gallant the best start in his first 20 games as the team's coach.

Brad Marchard scored twice and Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves and the Boston Bruins beat New Jersey 5-2, ending the Devils’ three-game winning streak.

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid ran away in the voting to win his second Hart Trophy as NHL MVP after leading the league in points.

Experience is an invaluable ally in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews and Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon have been named finalists for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP.

Brock Nelson scored twice in another big second period by New York, Semyon Varlamov stopped 23 shots and the Islanders beat the Boston Bruins 6-2 in Game 6 on Wednesday night to advance to the Stanley Cup semifinals for the second straight year.

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy knew it wasn't his team's night when David Pastrnak missed a wide open net with the potential go-ahead goal.

Casey Cizikas scored on a breakaway with 14:48 gone in overtime and Semyon Varlamov returned to the net to make 39 saves to lead the New York Islanders to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins and knotting their second-round playoff series at one game apiece.

David Pastrnak scored his second career playoff hat trick, David Krejci had three assists and the Boston Bruins beat the New York Islanders 5-2.

Captains are leading the way into the second round of the NHL playoffs.

The Boston Bruins feel like they're playing themselves in a way against the New York Islanders in the second round.

Trade deadline acquisitions are already paying big dividends for teams that have advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs.

The Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 to close out their first-round series in five games and advance in the playoffs.

Craig Smith scored 5:48 into the second overtime to give the Boston Bruins a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals and a 2-1 lead in their East Division first-round playoff series.

Brad Marchand scored 39 seconds into overtime and the Boston Bruins rallied to beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 and even the East Division first-round series at a game apiece.

Brad Marchand had two of his three goals and set up another in Boston’s five-goal second period.

The Bruins' high level of play matched the picturesque setting with the lake and snow-covered mountains in the background. Joel Farabee, Sean Couturier and James van Riemsdyk scored for the short-handed Flyers, who have six players on the COVID-19 list. AdThere were plenty of goals as well, starting with Pastrnak’s 34 seconds into the game. The Flyers responded with two goals and took the lead when Couturier came out of the penalty box and took advantage of McAvoy’s broken stick. There were even more on Sunday, including some waving Flyers flags and others with Bruins paraphernalia.

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8), of Russia, celebrates his game-winning goal in overtime of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021, in Washington. In his first game since Jan. 19, Ovechkin scored in overtime to help the Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 Saturday night in a showdown between the top teams in the NHL’s East Division. After Ovechkin missed the previous four games because of COVID-19 protocols, the high-scoring forward showed his career-long flair for the dramatic by beating Tuukka Rask with a perfect shot 28 seconds into overtime. “It was fun,” said Ovechkin, who also had an assist while being eased back in with 14 minutes of ice time. The Capitals beat the Bruins for the 17th time in 19 regular-season games dating to 2015.