1998–99 Boston Bruins season

The 1998–99 Boston Bruins season was the teams' 75th season.

1998–99 Boston Bruins
Division	3rd Northeast
Conference	6th Eastern
1998–99 record	39–30–13
Home record	22–10–9
Road record	17–20–4
Goals for	214
Goals against	181
Team information
General manager	Harry Sinden
Coach	Pat Burns
Captain	Ray Bourque
Arena	Fleet Center
Average attendance	16,299 (91.3%) Total: 668,290
Minor league affiliate(s)	Providence Bruins (AHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Dmitri Khristich (29)
Assists	Jason Allison (53)
Points	Jason Allison (76)
Penalty minutes	Ken Belanger (152)
Plus/minus	Don Sweeney (+14)
Wins	Byron Dafoe (32)
Goals against average	Byron Dafoe (2.00)
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

Off-season

Regular season

The Bruins' 11 shutouts were the most among all 27 teams.^[1] The Bruins also scored the fewest short-handed goals (3), allowed the fewest power-play goals (33) and had the best penalty-kill percentage (89.18%)^[2]

Final standings

Northeast Division

R	CR		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
1	2	Ottawa Senators	82	44	23	15	239	179	892	103
2	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	45	30	7	268	231	1095	97
3	6	Boston Bruins	82	39	30	13	214	181	1182	91
4	7	Buffalo Sabres	82	37	28	17	207	175	1561	91
5	11	Montreal Canadiens	82	32	39	11	184	209	1299	75

^[3]

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference^[4]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	y – New Jersey Devils	ATL	82	47	24	11	248	196	105
2	y – Ottawa Senators	NE	82	44	23	15	239	179	103
3	y – Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	34	30	18	210	202	86
4	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	45	30	7	268	231	97
5	Philadelphia Flyers	ATL	82	37	26	19	231	196	93
6	Boston Bruins	NE	82	39	30	13	214	181	91
7	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	37	28	17	207	175	91
8	Pittsburgh Penguins	ATL	82	38	30	14	242	225	90
9	Florida Panthers	SE	82	30	34	18	210	228	78
10	New York Rangers	ATL	82	33	38	11	217	227	77
11	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	32	39	11	184	209	75
12	Washington Capitals	SE	82	31	45	6	200	218	68
13	New York Islanders	ATL	82	24	48	10	194	244	58
14	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	19	54	9	179	292	47

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

bold – Qualified for playoffs; y – Won division

Schedule and results

Regular season

1998–99 regular season[5]
October: 4–5–2 (home: 1–1–2; road: 3–4–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 October 10, 1998 3–3 OT St. Louis Blues (1998–99) 0–0–1 T 2 October 12, 1998 3–0 New York Islanders (1998–99) 1–0–1 W 3 October 14, 1998 3–0 @ Colorado Avalanche (1998–99) 2–0–1 W 4 October 16, 1998 1–2 OT @ Los Angeles Kings (1998–99) 2–1–1 L 5 October 18, 1998 3–0 @ San Jose Sharks (1998–99) 3–1–1 W 6 October 19, 1998 1–3 @ Phoenix Coyotes (1998–99) 3–2–1 L 7 October 21, 1998 0–3 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1998–99) 3–3–1 L 8 October 24, 1998 1–3 @ New Jersey Devils (1998–99) 3–4–1 L 9 October 28, 1998 9–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 4–4–1 W 10 October 29, 1998 1–1 OT Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 4–4–2 T 11 October 31, 1998 0–2 Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 4–5–2 L
November: 6–2–3 (home: 3–1–1; road: 3–1–2) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 12 November 3, 1998 2–4 @ Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 4–6–2 L 13 November 5, 1998 4–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99) 5–6–2 W 14 November 7, 1998 0–0 OT @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) 5–6–3 T 15 November 8, 1998 5–2 @ Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 6–6–3 W 16 November 13, 1998 3–3 OT @ New York Rangers (1998–99) 6–6–4 T 17 November 14, 1998 1–3 Dallas Stars (1998–99) 6–7–4 L 18 November 19, 1998 5–5 OT Florida Panthers (1998–99) 6–7–5 T 19 November 21, 1998 5–4 OT Washington Capitals (1998–99) 7–7–5 W 20 November 24, 1998 4–1 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) 8–7–5 W 21 November 25, 1998 1–0 @ Florida Panthers (1998–99) 9–7–5 W 22 November 27, 1998 5–1 Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 10–7–5 W
December: 6–6–1 (home: 4–2–1; road: 2–4–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 23 December 1, 1998 1–1 OT Vancouver Canucks (1998–99) 10–7–6 T 24 December 5, 1998 2–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) 11–7–6 W 25 December 10, 1998 3–2 @ Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 12–7–6 W 26 December 12, 1998 1–4 Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 12–8–6 L 27 December 16, 1998 3–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) 12–9–6 L 28 December 17, 1998 5–2 Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 13–9–6 W 29 December 19, 1998 4–1 Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) 14–9–6 W 30 December 21, 1998 3–2 Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) 15–9–6 W 31 December 23, 1998 1–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) 15–10–6 L 32 December 26, 1998 2–4 @ New York Islanders (1998–99) 15–11–6 L 33 December 28, 1998 1–5 @ Washington Capitals (1998–99) 15–12–6 L 34 December 30, 1998 5–2 @ Nashville Predators (1998–99) 16–12–6 W 35 December 31, 1998 1–6 @ Dallas Stars (1998–99) 16–13–6 L
January: 4–6–2 (home: 4–2–2; road: 0–4–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 36 January 2, 1999 2–1 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1998–99) 17–13–6 W 37 January 4, 1999 5–1 Calgary Flames (1998–99) 18–13–6 W 38 January 7, 1999 2–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99) 19–13–6 W 39 January 9, 1999 3–6 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99) 19–14–6 L 40 January 15, 1999 1–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 19–15–6 L 41 January 16, 1999 2–2 OT Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) 19–15–7 T 42 January 18, 1999 8–1 Nashville Predators (1998–99) 20–15–7 W 43 January 21, 1999 1–3 Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 20–16–7 L 44 January 26, 1999 1–4 @ New York Islanders (1998–99) 20–17–7 L 45 January 28, 1999 0–2 New Jersey Devils (1998–99) 20–18–7 L 46 January 30, 1999 2–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) 20–19–7 L 47 January 31, 1999 0–0 OT Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 20–19–8 T
February: 5–5–2 (home: 3–2–1; road: 2–3–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 48 February 2, 1999 2–3 Colorado Avalanche (1998–99) 20–20–8 L 49 February 4, 1999 4–5 New York Islanders (1998–99) 20–21–8 L 50 February 6, 1999 2–2 OT @ Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) 20–21–9 T 51 February 7, 1999 3–2 New York Rangers (1998–99) 21–21–9 W 52 February 9, 1999 2–0 @ Edmonton Oilers (1998–99) 22–21–9 W 53 February 12, 1999 3–4 @ Calgary Flames (1998–99) 22–22–9 L 54 February 13, 1999 1–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1998–99) 22–23–9 L 55 February 18, 1999 0–2 @ Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 22–24–9 L 56 February 21, 1999 6–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) 23–24–9 W 57 February 23, 1999 5–2 Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 24–24–9 W 58 February 25, 1999 3–3 OT New Jersey Devils (1998–99) 24–24–10 T 59 February 27, 1999 4–3 Washington Capitals (1998–99) 25–24–10 W
March: 7–4–3 (home: 2–2–2; road: 5–2–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 60 March 2, 1999 3–2 Phoenix Coyotes (1998–99) 26–24–10 W 61 March 3, 1999 1–2 @ Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) 26–25–10 L 62 March 5, 1999 4–1 @ New Jersey Devils (1998–99) 27–25–10 W 63 March 7, 1999 1–3 New York Rangers (1998–99) 27–26–10 L 64 March 9, 1999 2–0 Florida Panthers (1998–99) 28–26–10 W 65 March 12, 1999 5–4 @ New York Rangers (1998–99) 29–26–10 W 66 March 13, 1999 1–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 29–27–10 L 67 March 17, 1999 4–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99) 30–27–10 W 68 March 20, 1999 2–2 OT San Jose Sharks (1998–99) 30–27–11 T 69 March 21, 1999 4–1 @ Washington Capitals (1998–99) 31–27–11 W 70 March 24, 1999 3–0 @ Ottawa Senators (1998–99) 32–27–11 W 71 March 25, 1999 3–3 OT Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) 32–27–12 T 72 March 27, 1999 2–2 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99) 32–27–13 T 73 March 30, 1999 1–2 OT Los Angeles Kings (1998–99) 32–28–13 L
April: 7–2–0 (home: 5–0–0; road: 2–2–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 74 April 1, 1999 3–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 33–28–13 W 75 April 3, 1999 3–0 Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) 34–28–13 W 76 April 5, 1999 3–0 Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) 35–28–13 W 77 April 7, 1999 5–2 @ Florida Panthers (1998–99) 36–28–13 W 78 April 8, 1999 0–3 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) 36–29–13 L 79 April 10, 1999 3–2 Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) 37–29–13 W 80 April 15, 1999 4–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) 38–29–13 W 81 April 17, 1999 2–1 OT Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) 39–29–13 W 82 April 18, 1999 1–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) 39–30–13 L
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1999 Stanley Cup playoffs[5]
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (3) Carolina Hurricanes – Bruins win 4–2 Game Date Score Opponent Series Recap 1 April 22, 1999 2–0 @ Carolina Hurricanes Bruins lead 1–0 W 2 April 24, 1999 2–3 OT @ Carolina Hurricanes Series tied 1–1 L 3 April 26, 1999 2–3 Carolina Hurricanes Hurricanes lead 2–1 L 4 April 28, 1999 4–1 Carolina Hurricanes Series tied 2–2 W 5 April 30, 1999 4–3 2OT @ Carolina Hurricanes Bruins lead 3–2 W 6 May 2, 1999 2–0 Carolina Hurricanes Bruins win 4–2 W
Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (7) Buffalo Sabres – Sabres win 4–2 Game Date Score Opponent Series Recap 1 May 6, 1999 4–2 Buffalo Sabres Bruins lead 1–0 W 2 May 9, 1999 1–3 Buffalo Sabres Series tied 1–1 L 3 May 12, 1999 2–3 @ Buffalo Sabres Sabres lead 2–1 L 4 May 14, 1999 0–3 @ Buffalo Sabres Sabres lead 3–1 L 5 May 16, 1999 5–3 Buffalo Sabres Sabres lead 3–2 W 6 May 18, 1999 2–3 @ Buffalo Sabres Sabres win 4–2 L
Legend: W Win L Loss

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Bruins only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Bruins only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
41	Jason Allison	C	82	23	53	76	5	68	12	2	9	11	1	6
12	Dmitri Khristich	LW	79	29	42	71	11	48	12	3	4	7	1	6
77	Ray Bourque	D	81	10	47	57	−7	34	12	1	9	10	1	14
14	Sergei Samsonov	LW	79	25	26	51	−6	18	11	3	1	4	3	0
6	Joe Thornton	C	81	16	25	41	3	69	11	3	6	9	1	4
33	Anson Carter	C	55	24	16	40	7	22	12	4	3	7	−3	0
23	Steve Heinze	RW	73	22	18	40	7	30	12	4	3	7	−1	0
18	Kyle McLaren	D	52	6	18	24	1	48	12	0	3	3	4	10
19	Rob DiMaio	C	71	7	14	21	−14	95	12	2	0	2	2	8
20	Darren Van Impe	D	60	5	15	20	−5	66	11	1	2	3	−3	4
11	P. J. Axelsson	LW	77	7	10	17	−14	18	12	1	1	2	−1	4
42	Peter Ferraro	C	46	6	8	14	10	44	—	—	—	—	—	—
36	Grant Ledyard	D	47	4	8	12	−8	33	2	0	0	0	−1	2
32	Don Sweeney	D	81	2	10	12	14	64	11	3	0	3	2	6
26	Tim Taylor	C	49	4	7	11	−10	55	12	0	3	3	1	8
25	Hal Gill	D	80	3	7	10	−10	63	12	0	0	0	−1	14
17	Shawn Bates	C	33	5	4	9	3	2	12	0	0	0	−1	4
38[a]	Chris Taylor	C	37	3	5	8	−3	12	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	Cameron Mann	RW	33	5	2	7	0	17	1	0	0	0	0	0
27	Landon Wilson	RW	22	3	3	6	0	17	—	—	—	—	—	—
44	Dave Ellett	D	54	0	6	6	11	25	8	0	0	0	0	4
37	Mattias Timander	D	22	0	6	6	4	10	4	1	1	2	3	2
16	Ken Belanger†	LW	45	1	4	5	−2	152	12	1	0	1	2	16
22	Ken Baumgartner	LW	69	1	3	4	−6	119	3	0	0	0	0	0
21	Ted Donato‡	LW	14	1	3	4	0	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
57	Antti Laaksonen	LW	11	1	2	3	−1	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
34	Byron Dafoe	G	68	0	2	2		25	12	0	0	0		2
21	Randy Robitaille	C	4	0	2	2	−1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
28[b]	Andre Savage	C	6	1	0	1	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
55	Jonathan Girard	D	3	0	0	0	1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
51	Jay Henderson	LW	4	0	0	0	−1	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
61	Marquis Mathieu†	C	9	0	0	0	−1	8	—	—	—	—	—	—
72	Eric Nickulas	C	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2
56	Peter Nordstrom	C	2	0	0	0	−1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
53	Brandon Smith	D	5	0	0	0	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
35	Robbie Tallas	G	17	0	0	0		0	—	—	—	—	—	—
29	Dennis Vaske	D	3	0	0	0	−3	6	—	—	—	—	—	—
71	Terry Virtue	D	4	0	0	0	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season											Playoffs
		GP	GS	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	GS	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
34	Byron Dafoe	68	67	32	23	11	1,800	133	2.00	.926	10	4,001:17	12	12	6	6	330	26	1.98	.921	2	767:58
35	Robbie Tallas	17	15	7	7	2	421	43	2.61	.898	1	986:53	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	Lester Patrick Trophy	Harry Sinden	[6]
	NHL Second All-Star Team	Ray Bourque (Defense)	[7]
		Byron Dafoe (Goaltender)
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Ray Bourque[c]	[9]
		Dmitri Khristich
	NHL Player of the Month	Byron Dafoe (April)	[10]
	NHL Player of the Week	Ray Bourque (December 21)	[11]
Team	Elizabeth C. Dufresne Trophy	Byron Dafoe	[12]
	Seventh Player Award	Byron Dafoe	[12]
	Three Stars Awards	Byron Dafoe (1st)	[13]
		Ray Bourque (2nd)
		Jason Allison (3rd)

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Antti Laaksonen	October 10, 1998	[14]
	Peter Nordstrom
	Jonathan Girard	October 18, 1998
	Jay Henderson	October 28, 1998
	Marquis Mathieu
	Eric Nickulas	January 7, 1999
	Andre Savage
	Brandon Smith	January 9, 1999
	Terry Virtue	January 16, 1999

Transactions

Trades Date Details June 27, 1998 (1998-06-27) To New York Islanders 1998 9th-round pick (#250 overall) To Boston Bruins 1999 9th-round pick (#247 overall) November 7, 1998 (1998-11-07) To New York Islanders Ted Donato To Boston Bruins Ken Belanger Free agents Date Player Team Contract term July 14, 1998 (1998-07-14) Anders Myrvold to Djurgårdens IF (Elitserien) July 14, 1998 (1998-07-14) P. C. Drouin to Bracknell Bees (BISL) July 21, 1998 (1998-07-21) Peter Ferraro from New York Rangers 1-year July 22, 1998 (1998-07-22) Brandon Smith from Detroit Red Wings 1-year July 22, 1998 (1998-07-22) Chris Taylor from Los Angeles Kings 1-year July 23, 1998 (1998-07-23) Jon Rohloff to San Jose Sharks August 17, 1998 (1998-08-17) Barry Richter to New York Islanders August 19, 1998 (1998-08-19) Dean Malkoc to New York Islanders August 28, 1998 (1998-08-28) Terry Virtue from St. Louis Blues September 10, 1998 (1998-09-10) Dennis Vaske from New York Islanders 1-year with a 1-year option September 14, 1998 (1998-09-14) Guy Larose to Chicago Wolves (IHL) October 9, 1998 (1998-10-09) Trent McCleary to Montreal Canadiens 1-year

Signings Date Player Contract term July 7, 1998 (1998-07-07) Peter Nordstrom 1-year September 9, 1998 (1998-09-09) Aaron Downey 1-year September 9, 1998 (1998-09-09) Ray Bourque 2-year (voiding current contract) September 10, 1998 (1998-09-10) Eric Nickulas 2-year September 13, 1998 (1998-09-13) Steve Heinze 2-year September 25, 1998 (1998-09-25) Jonathan Girard 3-year October 1, 1998 (1998-10-01) Jason Allison 2-year October 1, 1998 (1998-10-01) Ted Donato 1-year October 26, 1998 (1998-10-26) Marquis Mathieu November 5, 1998 (1998-11-05) Anson Carter 2-year November 10, 1998 (1998-11-10) Kyle McLaren 3-year Waivers Date Player Team October 5, 1999 (1999-10-05) Rory Fitzpatrick from St. Louis Blues in Waiver Draft October 7, 1999 (1999-10-07) to St. Louis Blues

Draft picks

Boston's draft picks at the 1998 NHL entry draft held at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York.^[15]

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	48	Jonathan Girard	D	Canada	Laval Titan Collège Français (QMJHL)
21	52	Bobby Allen	D	United States	Boston College (Hockey East)
3	78	Peter Nordstrom	LW	Sweden	Färjestad BK (Sweden)
5	135	Andrew Raycroft	G	Canada	Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
6	165	Ryan Milanovic	LW	Canada	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)

Notes

1. The Bruins acquired this pick as the result of a trade on March 1, 1997 that sent Bill Ranford, Adam Oates and Rick Tocchet to Washington in exchange for Jason Allison, Jim Carey, Anson Carter, a third-round pick in 1997 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).

• The Bruins first-round pick went to the Colorado Avalanche as the result of a trade on November 22, 1996 that sent Landon Wilson and Anders Myrvold to Boston in exchange for this pick (19th overall).
• The Bruins fourth-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on June 18, 1998 that sent Doug Bodger to Los Angeles in exchange for this pick (105th overall).

Los Angeles previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on August 29, 1997 that sent Byron Dafoe and Dmitri Khristich to Boston in exchange for Jozef Stumpel, Sandy Moger and this pick.

• The Bruins seventh-round pick went to the Calgary Flames as the result of a trade on June 21, 1997 that sent Mike Sullivan to Boston in exchange for this pick (192nd overall).
• The Bruins eighth-round pick went to the Vancouver Canucks as the result of a trade on March 3, 1998 that sent Grant Ledyard to Boston in exchange for this pick (219th overall).
• The Bruins ninth-round pick went to the New York Islanders as the result of a trade on June 27, 1998 that sent and ninth-round pick in 1999 to Boston in exchange for this pick (250th overall).

Notes

1. Taylor wore number 50 through November 14.
2. Savage wore number 54 in his first two games.
3. Bourque was voted to the starting lineup.^[8]