1986–87 Boston Bruins season
The 1986–87 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 63rd season.
Offseason
Regular season
Final standings
Schedule and results
Notable games
- November 20 - "Brawl in the Hallway" - Near the end of the second period, Chris Nilan while leaving the ice on a game misconduct for fighting and takes a swing at Ken Linseman on the Boston bench, igniting a brawl that spills up the runaway leading to the dressing rooms. Nilan and Ryan Walter are suspended for three games while Claude Lemieux sits for one game. The Canadiens are fined $9,000 and the Bruins $5,000 while the players' fines total $4,400.
Playoffs
Adams Division Semifinals
Montreal Canadiens 4, Boston Bruins 0
Player statistics
Regular season
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| D | 78 | 23 | 72 | 95 | 36 | 44 | 6 | 1 | 3 | |
| RW | 75 | 36 | 36 | 72 | 143 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 3 | |
| LW | 80 | 29 | 40 | 69 | 59 | 20 | 11 | 0 | 4 | |
| RW | 76 | 31 | 37 | 68 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 3 | |
| LW | 68 | 30 | 29 | 59 | 31 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 6 | |
| RW | 58 | 22 | 30 | 52 | 106 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 5 | |
| C | 79 | 20 | 30 | 50 | 51 | -4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
| C | 64 | 15 | 34 | 49 | 126 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| C | 64 | 12 | 31 | 43 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | |
| LW | 65 | 13 | 23 | 36 | 117 | -4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 66 | 12 | 24 | 36 | 95 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 1 | |
| RW | 76 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 79 | -7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 68 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 96 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| D | 34 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 18 | -2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 64 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 225 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| RW | 47 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| D | 52 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 84 | -2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| D | 79 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 71 | -15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 16 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | -5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C/RW | 14 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 21 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 18 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 53 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 23 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 16 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 55 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 208 | -11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 59 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 69 | -8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 14 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 24 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 36 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 41 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| 1942 | 36 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 108 | 3.34 | 0 | 909 | 801 | .881 | |
| 2234 | 41 | 16 | 20 | 2 | 124 | 3.33 | 3 | 1137 | 1013 | .891 | |
| 513 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 29 | 3.39 | 0 | 236 | 207 | .877 | |
| 97 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4.33 | 0 | 51 | 44 | .863 | |
| 60 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 6.00 | 0 | 34 | 28 | .824 | |
| Team: | 4846 | 80 | 39 | 34 | 7 | 274 | 3.39 | 3 | 2367 | 2093 | .884 |
Playoffs
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| RW | 4 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 8 | -1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| C | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 22 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C/RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| 120 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 5.50 | 0 | 58 | 47 | .810 | |
| 123 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 3.90 | 0 | 55 | 47 | .855 | |
| Team: | 243 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 19 | 4.69 | 0 | 113 | 94 | .832 |
Awards and records
Transactions
Roster
Draft picks
Boston's draft picks at the 1986 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec.| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club Team |
| 1 | 13 | Craig Janney | Boston College | |
| 2 | 34 | Pekka Tirkkonen | SaPKo | |
| 4 | 76 | Dean Hall | St. James Canadians | |
| 5 | 97 | Matt Pesklewis | St. Albert Saints | |
| 6 | 118 | Garth Premak | New Westminster Bruins | |
| 7 | 139 | Paul Beraldo | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | |
| 8 | 160 | Brian Ferreira | Falmouth High School | |
| 9 | 181 | Jeff Flaherty | Weymouth High School | |
| 10 | 202 | Greg Hawgood | Kamloops Blazers | |
| 11 | 223 | Staffan Malmqvist | Leksands IF | |
| 12 | 244 | Joel Gardner | Sarnia Legionnaires | |
| S | 1 | Chris Olson | University of Denver |