Capitals Put The Bruins On The Brink Of Elimination

Coming into this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, on paper it looked like Boston's biggest advantage over Washington was in goal. Surely, Tim Thomas could outplay a third-string rookie (Braden Holtby). Turns out (so far) that we were all wrong.

Once again, Holtby (34 saves) was better than Thomas (28 saves) this afternoon and the Caps took a 3-2 series lead with a 4-3 win at TD Garden.

Every game this series has been decided by one goal and the Capitals have scored first four out of five times.

Washington opened up the first two-goal lead of the series but Boston battled back with a pair of goals in 28 seconds. The Capitals went ahead 3-2 in the third period but the Bruins responded with their first power-play goal of the series. Troy Brouwer (2nd of the playoffs) ended any thoughts of another overtime session as he snapped a shot over Thomas with 1:27 left in regulation. It was extremely deflating since it appeared to be a shot that Thomas would normally stop. No traffic or tips means that there were no excuses. That wasn't the only weak goal that Thomas allowed either.

The B's hit the post twice in the first period: Zdeno Chara rang the crossbar on a power-play and Daniel Paille skated in on a breakaway while Boston was short-handed but he also ended up unlucky.

After no goals in the first, Alexander Semin (3rd of the playoffs) scored on a rebound at 11:16 of the second. Dennis Wideman and Marcus Johansson assisted on the goal. Thomas made a good initial save but neither he nor his defense could clear it out of danger. Despite many bodies between him and the goal, Semin was able to squeeze it through.

The Capitals doubled their lead at 14:27 as Jay Beagle notched his first goal of the postseason. His shot was tipped on the way in but it also went right off Thomas' glove so I think it was one he should have stopped.

Just when it looked like the Bruins had flatlined, Milan Lucic found Dennis Seidenberg (1st of the playoffs) for a pretty goal at 17:21. David Krejci had the second assist. Everyone came out of witness protection (well except for Tyler Seguin) as Brad Marchand (1st of the playoffs) tied it at 17:49. Rich Peverley and Johnny Boychuk assisted on Holtby's token weak one of the contest. Marchand barely poked it but the puck found a hole through Holtby's leg pads.

The difference in the game was the third period. Thomas gave up two bad goals (for him) while Holtby made unquestionably the best stop in the series-a full split to deny Seguin. Old friend Mike Knuble (1st of the playoffs) put Washington up 3-2 at 3:21 when Thomas kicked Joel Ward's shot right to him. John Erskine had the second assist.

Boston snapped a woeful 0-for-16 start on the power play in these playoffs with Boychuk's blast from the point at 8:47. Seidenberg and Marchand picked up the assists. It was surprising to see Holtby get beat on a relatively routine shot from distance like that.

Game 6 is tomorrow afternoon in D.C. (3 p.m., NBC). Patrice Bergeron and Joe Corvo both left with injuries today so who knows if they'll be able to play. Boston has no choice but to win, otherwise it will be an extremely bitter end to a postseason that was filled with so much hope. It starts with Thomas, he needs to be much better. Likewise, their offense needs to show up as well. They can't go out like this.

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Capitals Prevent The Bruins From Winning Three In A Row

Facing a team desperate for points as they try to make the playoffs in a Saturday afternoon contest-something the Bruins always struggle in-Boston lost 4-3 to the Washington Capitals today at TD Garden.

The loss ended Boston's modest two-game win streak which was the longest one they had built in two months.

The B's (40-24-3) outplayed the Capitals (34-28-6) for long stretches but that doesn't really matter since they handed Washington a 2-0 lead right out of the gate and later a 4-2 advantage just for shits and giggles. Boston rallied the first time but you'll pretty much never win playing that style so they couldn't do it again.

Alexander Semin (18th of the season) and Matt Hendricks (4th of the season) scored 25 seconds apart, at 7:50 and 8:15 of the first period which caused Bruins head coach Claude Julien to burn his timeout. Semin's goal was Tim Thomas' (26 saves; 26-16-0) fault since Thomas kicked Karl Alzner's shot right to Semin rather than the corner. Boston's defense was the culprit for Hendricks' tally since they let him bust through and stuff in another rebound-from Troy Brouwer's shot.

Momentum shifted as Milan Lucic (23rd of the season) scored with six seconds left in the first period. He seemed to have caught Caps goaltender Tomas Vokoun (30 saves) by surprise as the not very powerful shot slipped between his pads. Patrice Bergeron had the assist.

Brad Marchand (23rd of the season) tied it at two just 4:58 into the second period. He corralled a loose puck and skated in alone on Vokoun before sliding it past him.

Penalties killed the Bruins as they took three in the second period alone. They were able to kill the first two but in between those Jay Beagle (2nd of the season) was able to wrist one by Thomas. That occurred in what NESN's Jack Edwards refers to as the "Vulnerable Minute," the minute after a power play ends. The third penalty was a bogus roughing call on Greg Zanon and to make matters worse, Washington scored on it thanks to a Brooks Laich (13th of the season) tip in. Former Bruin Dennis Wideman and Alexander Ovechkin assisted.

The Bruins absolutely dominated in the third, outshooting the Capitals 13-2, but they could only muster one goal. Johnny Boychuk (5th of the season) roofed a rebound at 16:47 from Marchand and Jordan Caron.

Boston travels to Pittsburgh tomorrow afternoon for a tough back-to-back. Let me say that I want to see Marty Turco make his Bruins debut, mostly because Thomas seems dead energy-wise and who can blame him? They picked up Turco so they might as well use him, why not tomorrow? Particularly since it's a back-to-back, on the road, early start and even because the clocks get set an hour later.

The Penguins are 1-1 against the Bruins so far this season, with their last meeting a 2-1 win in Boston on February 4. Pittsburgh always seems to improve as the season goes along-a sign of a great team-and this one is no different. They've won eight straight games including two by a goal and two shootout victories.

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