The Boston Bruins made history in their 3-0 win to open their 2026-27 season. And it puts them on the cusp of setting a record.
Boston snagged its 11th straight home-opening win when it shut out the New York Rangers. This milestone ties one of their biggest rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, who won 11 straight home-openers between 1953-54 and 1963-64.
If the Bruins snag another home-opener this time next year, they will have the record to themselves. And right now, there are a ton of reasons to be optimistic about the Bruins.
Boston Bruins Have Done Something Not Seen Since The 1960s
Another Original Six rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs, were also on the cusp of tying Montreal. But ironically enough, the Canadiens made sure their Atlantic Division brethren didn’t reach the same milestone, defeating the Leafs 3-2.
Boston’s streak started when it beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Oct. 20, 2016. Catch the full list of games and their scores below:
- Oct 20, 2016: New Jersey Devils/2-1
- Oct 5, 2017: Nashville Predators/4-3
- Oct 8, 2018: Ottawa Senators/6-3
- Oct 12, 2019: New Jersey Devils/3-0
- Jan 21, 2021: Philadelphia Flyers/5-4 (SO)
- Oct 16, 2021: Dallas Stars/3-1
- Oct 15, 2022: Arizona Coyotes/6-3
- Oct 11, 2023: Chicago Blackhawks/3-1
- Oct 10, 2024: Montreal Canadiens/6-4
- Oct 9, 2025: Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 (OT)
- Sep 29, 2026: New York Rangers/3-0
Interestingly, the Canadiens had a chance to end the Bruins’ hopes of matching their record in 2024. Even more interesting, the 2024-25 season saw the Bruins and Canadiens going in different directions. The rebuilding Canadiens ultimately scored a playoff berth while the Bruins finished near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
The closest call came during the 2020-21 season, which was delayed because of COVID. The Philadelphia Flyers took the Bruins to the brink before Boston won it in a shootout.
Of the 11 games, the New Jersey Devils and Chicago Blackhawks were the only teams the Bruins hosted twice. New Jersey was also the only team on the list the Bruins shut out until Tuesday night’s game vs. the Rangers.
Boston Needed A Late Surge To Keep The Streak Alive
The Bruins’ shutout win vs. the Rangers may have looked dominant. But through the first two periods and most of the third frame, the score remained deadlocked at zero. Goaltenders Jeremy Swayman and Igor Shesterkin looked as though they would make sure the game would be a low-scoring affair.
Then Fraser Minton scored at the 16:14 mark before JJ Peterka knocked it home at 17:06. Mark Kastelic drove home an empty-netter to ice the game at 17:29, and the Bruins skated away with history.
What made this win special wasn’t just that it came against another Original Six team or even the 11th-straight home-opening victory itself. It’s more about how the Bruins continue to keep winning home-openers despite changing coaches and cores.
This isn’t the Patrice Bergeron-Brad Marchand era that dominated the NHL throughout the 2010s and most of the 2020s. It survived the lean 2024-25 season when just about everything went wrong for the Bruins.
Now that Boston is in a new era and looks like a dominant force again, it has a real chance to set the record. For Bruins fans everywhere, it will be even more satisfying to break a record that one of their biggest rivals has held for decades.
Bruins Tie 63-Year-Old NHL Record With 11th Straight Home-Opener Win