For The Third Straight Game, B's & Caps Went To OT But This Time, Craig Smith Won It For Boston

 

    This is getting silly: the last 12 playoff games between the Bruins and Capitals have all been decided by one goal with now eight of those ending in overtime. Tonight at the TD Garden for Game 3 of their first round series, Boston outlasted Washington 3-2 in double overtime with veteran right wing Craig Smith doing the honors with his second career playoff overtime goal which gave the B's a 2-1 series lead. Once again, the Bruins found themselves trailing in the third period before tying it then winning it in the extra session. All three contests in this series have gone to overtime which is crazy. This is a very tough way to live but it is somehow working so far for the black and gold. 

    The big news right before Game 3 started was that Washington's goaltender Ilya Samsonov would start while Pheonix Copley served as the backup and Craig Anderson (who started Game 2) did not even dress. For a guy who had not played since May 1 (due to being in the Covid-19 protocol), Samsonov (40 saves) did not show many signs of rust. Well except for the play that decided the game: he had a chance to the touch the puck behind his net but he hesitated which allowed Smith to swoop in and use a wraparound shot to stuff it in the net at 5:48. Fittingly Smith-who was Bruins GM Don Sweeney's only real notable free agent signed last off-season-was credited with an unassisted tally since nobody on his team helped him per se, that was all thanks to his hustle, speed and determination. 

    After a scoreless first period (which Boston dominated, outshooting Washington 10-4), the Caps built a pair of one-goal leads in the second period which they could not protect. Captain Alex Ovechkin made it 1-0 for the visitors with a one-timer from right wing Anthony Mantha at 8:21. It came on the power play and it was Ovi's first goal of the series. It took the Bruins 56 seconds to respond as left wing Taylor Hall scored a beautiful goal. He took a pass down low from Smith (with UVM's Kevan Miller picking up the other helper) and went backhand to forehand then he put the puck in the top shelf. Very few other B's could have pulled that entire sequence off that he made look so easy for his second goal of the series. Center Nick Dowd put Washington back in front 2-1 at 18:15 as he tipped in a shot from Brown's Garnet Hathaway. It was Dowd's second goal of the series as Boston's goaltender Tuukka Rask (35 saves) was victimized by another tip (or deflection) in the early going of this series. 

    The Capitals turned up the heat in the second period (outshooting the Bruins 16-11) and they tripled Boston's shots on goal total (9-3) in the third period but the black and gold probably did not care one bit since they tied it on left wing Brad Marchand's amazing reaction play. BU's Charlie McAvoy (who played a game-high 33:52) started it by shuttling the puck to captain Patrice Bergeron in the bumper position on the power play. Bergy's shot was deflected but Marchand was there to bat it out of mid-air and straight into the net at 11:32. His second goal of the series made the Garden explode with excitement.

    The B's will have an optional practice tomorrow before they hit the Garden ice on Friday (6:30, NESN) for Game 4. Obviously, that's a huge tilt as well since the difference between leading the series 3-1 or being knotted at two games apiece is enormous. I've accepted that most likely every game in this series will be close like this and perhaps more overtime will be needed to help settle things. Center Evgeni Kuznetsov returned as well this evening from his Covid-19 battle (he had also been out since May 1) so there really aren't any other big moves left for Caps head coach Peter Laviolette to make. It would be nice to see the Bruins carry the momentum from these back-to-back overtime triumphs into Game 4 but then again, I won't hold my breath for that.

In True Bruins Style, They Wasted A Great Chance To Win Game 1 Vs. The Capitals, Falling 3-2 In OT

 

    The Bruins and Capitals had the honor of opening the 2021 NHL playoffs this evening at the Capital One Arena and Washington took Game 1 by a score of 3-2 in overtime as something called Nic Dowd tipped in the game-winning goal at 4:41. Boston never led but it still felt like a tilt that they should have found a way to win since Caps rookie goaltender Vitek Vanecek (3 saves, 1 goal allowed) went down with a game-ending lower-body injury only 13:10 into the first period. In his place stepped 39-year-old veteran journeyman (this is his 5th NHL team!) Craig Anderson-who had only played in four games during the regular season-and he proceeded to stop 21 out of 22 shots for the win. It is only one game so I'm not going to freak out yet but I will say that if Boston loses this series, I'm confident that Game 1 will be a result they would dearly wish to have back. 

    Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (29 saves) was good for much of the night except of course when it counted most which seems to be one of his specialties when it comes to the playoffs. He actually made the initial save on Dowd's tip of right wing T.J. Oshie's shot but the puck bounced off Rask's chest protector directly down to his stick which knocked it into his net. Woof. There are plenty of B's fans who are very tired of Rask these days so I can only imagine how many of them said something along the lines of "I told you so!" in that instance. Washington's chief piece of human garbage Tom Wilson had the secondary assist on what was undoubtedly the biggest goal of Dowd's life. 

    Speaking of Wilson, he also opened the scoring with the first goal of the postseason in the NHL. Ugh, you can't make this stuff up. Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy's stick broke in the offensive zone so the Capitals got a 2-on-1 with Oshie feeding Wilson who picked the top corner over Rask's glove hand. Left wing Daniel Sprong had the second assist at 6:22 of the first period. Boston's fourth line surprisingly provided the timely response for the B's as left wing Jake DeBrusk fired a quick shot after a face-off scrum for the tying goal at 13:10 of the first period. Center Curtis Lazar had the lone assist (his 1st playoff point as a Bruin) as he got the puck back to DeBrusk. That goal is when Vanecek got hurt and Anderson had to come in ice cold and rusty, no pressure.

    Playoff hockey is all about random guys stepping up and the second period was more proof of that as Caps defenseman Brendan Dillon's shot from the point deflected off Bruins defenseman Jeremy Lauzon's stick and past Rask at 8:44. Right wing Anthony Mantha (1st career playoff point) and Capitals icon Alex Ovechkin had the assists on Dillon's first ever playoff goal. Once again, it did not take Boston long to answer though as left wing Nick Ritchie was credited with a power play goal after right wing David Pastrnak's shot went off Ritchie's skate in front of Anderson. McAvoy had the second assist at 16:38 that tied it up at two. 

         Game 2 is set for Monday (7:30, NESN) back at the Capital One Arena and while I would not call it a must-win for the black and gold, it is in that scary neighborhood. Who knows if Vanecek will be able to play then or for the rest of the series but regardless, Boston has to get much more out of their top two lines that were both basically invisible in Game 1. More than anyone, Rask could also use a win since if the Bruins returned to Boston down 0-2 in the series, you wonder if head coach Bruce Cassidy would be tempted to throw rookie goaltender Jeremy Swayman in there to turn things around? There is very little separating these clubs so expect a long and tight series, I don't think that there will be many blowouts or one-sided affairs.