Washington Capitals (26-12-4 56pts) v. Boston Bruins (25-14-4 54pts)
Game Recap:
The Washington Capitals came into Boston looking to extend their win streak to three, but how they would start the game with an early Jonas Siegenthaler holding penalty would force the Capitals to kill the Bruins powerplay opportunity. Then after a strong kill the Capitals would get on the board when Jakub Vrana would score his 15th of the season off of a breakaway pass from TJ Oshie. The Bruins would put the pressure on the Capitals which would cause Michal Kempny to take a tripping penalty, but once again the Capitals would shut down the Bruins powerplay. Braden Holtby had a spectacular first period which saw him stop all 17 Bruins shots.
The Bruins would start the period pressuring the Capitals, but then the Capitals would get a very good shift from their second line that would draw a penalty against Patrice Bergeron. However, the Capitals would not be able to do much with their first powerplay opportunity. Then Lars Eller would challenge Brad Marchand after being chirped at by Marchand, but Marchand would cowardly turtle when Eller dropped his gloves thus getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and another Bruins powerplay. The Capitals would kill the penalty, and then on a rush Alex Ovechkin would be tripped by Brandon Carlo to give the Capitals their second powerplay opportunity of the game. The Capitals would fail on the powerplay, and then the Bruins would take that momentum to tie up the game with Ryan Donato’s 6th of the season. However, it would not remain tied as Tom Wilson displayed great patience behind the net to find Ovechkin for his 31st goal of the season.
The Bruins started the period with a powerplay due to a late penalty against Brett Connolly, but the Capitals would do a great job of killing the penalty. However, the Capitals would shoot themselves in the foot with a too many men on the ice penalty that would see David Krejci tie the game for the Bruins on the powereplay, but 69 seconds later Nicklas Backstrom would respond to retake the lead for the Capitals. Late in the third period the Bruins would pull goalie Jaroslav Halak, but then Ovechkin would nab the empty netter for his second of the game. The Capitals would end the Bruins 5 game winning streak and grow their win streak to 3 games.
Lineups:
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Brett Connolly — Lars Eller — Travis Boyd
Chandler Stephenson — Nic Dowd — Devante Smith-Pelly
Michal Kempny — John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik — Jonas Siegenthaler
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Andre Burakovsky, Madison Bowey, Dmitrij Jaskin
Injured: Christian Djoos (thigh)
Boston Bruins:
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — David Backes
Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari — Chris Wagner
Ryan Donato — Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson — Danton Heinen
Zdeno Chara — Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug — John Moore
Matt Grzelcyk — Kevan Miller
Jaroslav Halak
Tuukka Rask
Scratched: Colby Cave, Steven Kampfer
Injured: Charlie McAvoy (lower body), Joakim Nordstrom (fractured fibula)
First Period:
Capitals Penalty – 1:51 – Jonas Siegenthaler 2 minutes for Holding
Capitals Goal – 6:38 – Jakub Vrana (15) from TJ Oshie (6)
Capitals Penalty – 14:13 – Michal Kempny 2 minutes for Tripping
End of 1st – WAS – 1 BOS – 0
Shots 05 17
Faceoffs 09 10
Hits 10 05
PP 0/0 0/2
Second Period:
Bruins Penalty – 5:10 – Patrice Bergeron 2 minutes for Tripping
Capitals Penalty – 7:43 – Lars Eller 2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct
Bruins Penalty – 10:57 – Brandon Carlo 2 minutes for Tripping
Bruins Goal – 14:11 – Ryan Donato (6) from Torey Krug (25) from Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (4)
Capitals Goal – 14:50 – Alex Ovechkin (31) from Tom Wilson (9)
Capitals Penalty – 19:52 – Brett Connolly 2 minutes for Holding
End of 2nd – WAS – 2 BOS – 1
Shots 12 28
Faceoffs 15 26
Hits 24 17
PP 0/2 0/3
Third Period:
Capitals Penalty – 3:58 – Bench (Ovechkin) 2 minutes for Too Many Men
Bruins PPG – 4:37 – David Krejci (8) from Danton Heinen (7) and David Backes (8)
Capitals Goal – 5:46 – Nicklas Backstrom (11) from TJ Oshie (7) and Jonas Siegenthaler (4)
Capitals ENG – 18:25 – Alex Ovechkin (32) from unassisted
End of 3rd – WAS – 4 BOS – 2
Shots 22 41
Faceoffs 22 42
Hits 32 25
PP 0/2 1/5
Next Up:
Washington (27-12-4 58pts) v. Columbus (25-15-3 53pts)
Boston (25-16-4 54pts) @ Toronto (28-13-2 58pts)
