Boston Bruins (27-17-7 61pts) v. Washington Capitals (28-17-6 62pts)
Game Recap:
For the first five minutes of the game the Washington Capitals would get their skating legs moving and create some opportunities in the Boston Bruins, but then a questionable hooking call against Dmitrij Jaskin would give the Bruins their first powerplay opportunity. The Capitals would hold the Bruins to one shot as they would kill off the penalty, but then Evgeny Kuznetsov would be called for slashing giving the Bruins another opportunity on the powerplay. The Bruins would generate four solid scoring opportunities, but Braden Holtby would shut the door. The Capitals would gain their first powerplay opportunity when Patrice Bergeron would be called for holding, but the Capitals failed to generate a single scoring opportunity on the powerplay. The Capitals would be held to six shots all period, while Holtby would be stellar stopping all 15 shots faced.
After a very boring first half to the second period, the Capitals would draw another powerplay, but it would be the Bruins who would shut them down, and as the penalty expired the Bruins would force the play in the Capitals zone as Torey Krug would set up David Krejci for the first goal of the game to give the Bruins the first lead of the afternoon. The Capitals would continue to struggle in the second period, but Holtby would stand on his head to keep the game a one goal game going into the intermission.
The third period would be very uneventful, despite a couple good shifts for the Capitals. However, it would not be good enough as the Capitals would fall to the Bruins 1-0 ending their winning streak over the Bruins at 14 games.
Lineups:
Boston Bruins:
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak
Peter Cehlarik — David Krejci — Jake DeBrusk
Joakim Nordstrom — Trent Frederic — David Backes
Sean Kuraly — Noel Acciari — Chris Wagner
Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug — Kevan Miller
Matt Grzelcyk — Brandon Carlo
Tuukka Rask
Jaroslav Halak
Scratched: John Moore, Danton Heinen, Zane McIntyre
Injured: none
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Tom Wilson
Dmitrij Jaskin — Travis Boyd — Brett Connolly
Andre Burakovsky — Nic Dowd — Devante Smith-Pelly
Dmitry Orlov — John Carlson
Michal Kempny — Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik — Jonas Siegenthaler
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Chandler Stephenson, Madison Bowey
Injured: Christian Djoos (thigh), Lars Eller (lower body)
First Period:
Capitals Penalty – 5:30 – Dmitrij Jaskin 2 minutes for Hooking
Capitals Penalty – 7:37 – Evgeny Kuznetsov 2 minutes for Slashing
Bruins Penalty – 9:52 – Patrice Bergeron 2 minutes for Holding
End of 1st – BOS – 0 WAS – 0
Shots 15 06
Faceoffs 11 06
Hits 08 08
PP 0/2 0/1
Second Period:
Bruins Penalty – 8:24 – Kevan Miller 2 minutes for Cross Checking
Bruins Goal – 10:43 – David Krejci (11) from Torey Krug (30) and David Pastrnak (32)
End of 2nd – BOS – 1 WAS – 0
Shots 30 13
Faceoffs 17 14
Hits 16 28
PP 0/2 0/2
Third Period:
Bruins Penalty – 12:30 – Charlie McAvoy 2 minutes for Hooking
Capitals Penalty – 13:06 TJ Oshie 2 minutes for Hooking
End of 3rd – BOS – 1 WAS – 0
Shots 38 24
Faceoffs 33 19
Hits 26 41
PP 0/3 0/3
Next Up:
Washington (28-18-6 62pts) v. Vancouver (24-22-6 54pts)
Boston (28-17-7 63pts) v. NY Islanders (30-15-6 66pts)
