The B's Even The Series With The Caps 1-1 After Hall's Clutch Goal & Marchand's OT Game-Winner

 

    As you've probably heard, there is nothing in sports quite like playoff hockey and that roller coaster of emotions was on full display tonight at the Capital One Arena. Boston rallied from a late 3-2 deficit in the third period to tie it on left wing Taylor Hall's first postseason goal in black and gold then star Brad Marchand scored the fastest OT goal in franchise playoff history (39 seconds!) as they won Game 2 by a score of 4-3 against Washington. After losing 3-2 in overtime in Game 1, the Bruins evened the series at one game apiece with Game 3 on Wednesday (6:30, NESN) at the TD Garden. The win snapped a five-game playoff losing streak for the B's dating back to last postseason in the bubble vs. Tampa Bay while the Capitals have now dropped three of their last four playoff games that have gone to overtime. 

    Up until their strong finish to Game 2, this felt like it would end on another sour note for Boston with them trailing 0-2 in the series and headed home for the next two contests. Two times in the first period the Bruins took the lead only to see the Caps quickly answer back. They also once again made 39-year-old goaltender Craig Anderson (44 saves) look way better than he should be in 2021. Right wing Jake DeBrusk has definitely put a terrible regular season behind him as he scored for the second straight game. BU's Charlie Coyle started the play by going around the net (while Anderson slid much too far out of the crease) then feeding DeBrusk in front for an easy tap-in. Nick Ritchie had the second assist on the opening tally at 5:05. Boston took a bunch of dumb penalties this evening and it cost them when right wing T.J. Oshie tipped in Alex Ovechkin's weak wrist shot at 6:31. Capitals defenseman John Carlson provided the second assist on Oshie's first goal of the playoffs.

    Boston's top line had been invisible in Game 1 so it was great to see captain Patrice Bergeron snipe a shot past Anderson at 9:21. Right wing David Pastrnak had the lone assist on Bergy's first goal of the postseason. Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (36 saves) was good in Game 2 well except for the goal that Washington scored to make it 2-2. Defenseman Dmitry Orlov put the puck on net (or tried to) but the shot deflected off right wing Garnet Hathaway's skate and through a maze of bodies into the net. It was the first career goal for the Brown alum and Maine native with former Canadien Lars Eller (who later left with a lower-body injury and never returned) adding the second helper at 16:42. 

    After a scoreless second period, Hathaway handed the Caps their first lead (3-2) at 7:04. That wasn't a fluke although it started with a ill-timed pinch by Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller which led to a 2-on-1. Orlov fed Hathaway who beat Rask top shelf with left wing Carl Hagelin credited with the other assist. Hall's tying goal was not of the sexy variety that he displayed multiple times late in the regular season but nevertheless, it was highly effective and just as memorable. Right wing Craig Smith and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk had the assists but Hall did the most dirty work as Anderson stopped all of them before Taylor finally found an open space to knock the puck into the net. That huge momentum swing at 17:11 carried Boston through the rest of regulation and into the very brief extra session. The game-ending sequence started when Capitals defenseman Brenden Dillon's awful clearing attempt was intercepted by Bruins center David Krejci at Washington's blue line. He shuttled the puck across to Grzelcyk who found Marchand with another cross-ice pass. Brad made no mistake there since he crushed a one-timer that Anderson could not get over fast enough to stop. 

    You cannot emphasize enough how important this victory was to Boston since trailing 0-2 and returning to the pressure of the Garden could have been a tough combination for them to overcome. Luckily, they stepped up at winning time and hopefully cracked the code a bit on the mediocre Anderson. I'd love to say that the B's will win Game 3 in a blowout but the fact remains that the last 11 (!) playoff games between the Bruins and Capitals have all been decided by one goal. Enjoy the beautiful weather tomorrow, watch the goofy Celtics-Wizards Play-In Tournament game (9, TNT) and get ready for what should be a beauty of an event on Causeway Street on Wednesday. 

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.

B's Showed How Far They've Come in A Week, Beating The Caps 6-3 In Their Fourth Straight Win

 

    The Bruins (25-12-6) have picked a wonderful time of the regular season to start playing their best hockey in 2021. This afternoon at the TD Garden, Boston outlasted Washington (29-13-4) 6-3 thanks to a pair of goals from left wing Brad Marchand (2 assists), center Patrice Bergeron (assist) and center David Krejci. Like most meetings with the Capitals, this turned out to be a wild one complete with cheap shots and plenty of blood but sadly no Zdeno Chara (undisclosed) who hadn't missed a game before that for Washington. Boston scored twice to start the game, Washington responded with three goals in a row from late in the first period to the early in the second period to take a temporary 3-2 lead. Finally, the black and gold shut the door by scoring three more times in the middle frame then adding an empty-net goal late in the third period. After bottoming out in their 8-1 beating at the hands of Washington last Sunday night at the Garden, the B's have completely turned it around since this was their fourth straight victory. Boston took a 1-0 lead at 12:02 of the first period thanks to some great hustle by Marchand. He deflected an attempted pass behind his own net by Capitals defenseman John Carlson (game-low minus-5!) and the puck ended up right on Bergy's stick in front of goaltender Vitek Vanecek (22 saves, 17-9-3). He went around him so easily and finished with a backhander for his 17th goal of the season. Less than two minutes later, Krejci doubled the Bruins lead by going to the net and redirecting a pass from defenseman Connor Clifton. Right wing Craig Smith notched the secondary assist on Krejci's fourth goal of the season at 13:56. Washington got on the board with a goal at 19:50 of the first period. Center Nicklas Backstrom skated in on a breakaway that was stopped by B's goaltender Tuukka Rask (30 saves, 10-4-2) but right wing T.J. Oshie followed it up to knock in the rebound for his 15th goal of the season. 

    As good teams often tend to do, the Caps took advantage of the situation when Clifton was called for his second high-sticking penalty (double minor) of the game early in the second period. First some tic-tac-toe passing led to a sweet one-timer for Oshie right from the slot. Center Evgeny Kuznetsov and Backstrom had the assists on the tying goal at 3:48. The newest Capital right wing Anthony Manta fired in a screened shot at 4:54 of the second period for another power play tally. His 15th goal of the season (and 4th as a Cap, he's scored in every game so far) was assisted by defenseman Dmitry Orlov and center Lars Eller. Marchand tied it at three with his a nifty move by Vitacek that resulted in his team-best 22nd goal of the season at 6:33. Pasta and Bergeron had the helpers with Brad possibly taking the puck off David's stick, oh well! Krejci's second goal was a vintage edition: he deked around a Capitals defenseman before slowly roofing a shot for his fifth goal of the season at 16:02. Smith and left wing Taylor Hall provided the assists on that game-winner. Late in the second period, Boston's top line combined for a gorgeous goal: Marchand and Pastrnak raced in on a 2-on-1 with Pasta eventually dropping the puck back to Bergeron for a one-timer. The captain's 18th goal of the season came at 17:45 of the second period and it gave his club a 5-3 advantage. 

    Marchand closed out his great performance by bagging that empty-netter at 18:16 of the third period, assisted by Pastrnak. Boston has earned at least a point in six of their seven meetings (4-1-2) with Washington this season; they take on the Capitals one more time-the regular season finale for both teams on May 11 (7, NESN) which will probably have some type of playoff implications in it. Winning four out of five games last week was nice and all but I think the Bruins have a good chance to really make a move in the East Division since they play their next three games against the wretched Sabres (12-26-7) at the KeyBank Center: Tuesday (6:30, NESN), Thursday (7, NESN) and Friday (7, NESN). The long five-game road trip concludes with a pair of games in Pittsburgh (28-14-3) next Sunday afternoon (3, NBC) followed by Tuesday's finale (7, NESN). The Bruins are only six points behind the first-place Caps, four points in back of the Islanders (28-13-4) and the Pens lead them by three points. They also have at least two games in hand over all those teams. Boston must pay attention to the Rangers (23-16-6) though who have won four games in a row to remain four points behind the Bruins in fifth-place and show no signs of letting up (7-1-2 in their last 10) anytime soon. 

Suddenly The Bruins Are Flush With Quality Goaltenders As They Beat The Capitals 4-2 In DC

 

    Based on who was in the lineup and who was not, plus the quality of the opponent and the fact that it was on the road are some of the many reasons for why I felt like tonight's 4-2 victory by the Bruins (21-10-6) at the Capital One Arena against the Capitals (25-11-4) was their best win of the season. Rookie goaltender Jeremy Swayman (2-0) made his second NHL start and it ended with another win as the University of Maine alum made 31 saves to beat one of the top teams in the league. Left wing Brad Marchand scored his 30th career shorthanded goal while rookie defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and rookie left wing Anton Blidh each picked a fine time to score their first goals of the season. 

    Defenseman Charlie McAvoy remains out with a unknown upper-body injury so UVM's Kevan Miller stepped up in a big way, playing a game-high 25:18 with five hits and five blocked shots. Boston never allowed the Caps to get comfortable as they built a 2-0 lead in the first period, made it 3-0 in the second period then held on as Washington made it tight with a pair of power play goals. Capitals rookie goaltender Ilya Samsonov (28 saves, 9-3-1) was not at his best or maybe he's simply no Jeremy Swayman. Lauzon's goal was such a fluke as his nothing shot from the point somehow snuck past the young Russian. Marchand and right wing Craig Smith had the assists on the tally that came only 33 seconds into the game. Blidh's goal was unassisted at 16:02 but the full story is that a turnover behind Washington's goal and a lucky bounce meant that the puck came right to Blidh who was by there to knock it in. 

    What those goals lacked in physical beauty, Marchand's more than made up for with a brilliant shorthanded goal. I'll give you one guess who had the lone assist on his team-leading 19th goal of the season at 4:09 of the second period. It was center Patrice Bergeron of course who registered the only helper on his BFF's insurance tally. Washington made it a one-goal game with a rapid pair of power play goals that were 19 seconds apart later in the frame. They were essentially the same goal as Caps superstar left wing Alex Ovechkin parked himself at the left face-off dot and hammered in a one-timer at 10:08. Defenseman John Carlson and right wing T.J. Oshie picked up the assists on Ovi's 20th goal of the season that also gave him the second most power play goals in NHL history. On the next shift, Oshie scored on a one-timer of his own from the same location. Carlson and center Nicklas Backstrom were credited with the assists on Oshie's 12th goal of the season. 

    Boston held on to that 3-2 lead for much of the third period before Smith thankfully gave them a little breathing room. His power play goal came at 16:55 with center Charlie Coyle and rookie defenseman Jakub Zboril assisting on his seventh goal of the season. With the win, the B's improved to 3-0-2 against the Caps in 2021. They have three more matchups left with the Capitals including on Sunday night (7, NESN) back at the TD Garden. Before that, the Black and Gold head to Philadelphia (18-15-6) for a matinee on Saturday afternoon (2, NESN). It's their last tilt with the Flyers in the regular season which is a shame since they are 6-0-1 against them-after an overtime loss and win earlier this week. As I've said lately, it really doesn't matter which Bruins goaltender starts for them especially against Philly. One more win would be a sweet way to end the extremely lopsided season series with the Flyers. Boston is six points ahead of the Flyers for fourth-place in the East Division with two games in hand. 

Someone Should Probably Tell the Bruins That the NHL Playoffs Start on Tuesday Afternoon

    Did you know that the NHL has returned to action? Most hockey fans are probably aware that the season re-started last Saturday after pausing in mid-March due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, if you are a Bruins fan, the best team in the league before the break has looked nothing like that going 0-3 in round-robin play to drop from the top seed in the Eastern Conference to the No. 4 seed. As a result of Sunday's 2-1 loss to Washington, the B's will meet the Hurricanes in the first-round of the playoffs instead of the Islanders (who they would have met if they had beaten the Capitals). 

    On one hand, with such an experienced team, it's hard to overreact to three games that probably didn't mean all that much. With all the East teams in Toronto for their bubble city and West teams in Edmonton, there is no such thing as home ice in the 2020 NHL playoffs (haha the Maple Leafs and Oilers would surely agree after both were bounced in the round-robin). Then again, of all the major sports home ice has always meant the least in hockey but it still has to be bizarre to play in front of an empty arena. 

    Regardless, a win or two in the past week would have been nice for the B's considering that things really ramp up on Tuesday with the start of the NHL playoffs. They no-showed in a 4-1 loss to the Flyers (who surprisingly went 3-0 to become the No. 1 overall seed in the East) last Sunday afternoon. That was followed by a frustrating 3-2 to Tampa Bay on Wednesday afternoon then today's snoozefest. Most alarmingly, the Black and Gold never led in those three contests. Hell, they never even were in front during their lone exhibition game: a 4-1 loss to the Blue Jackets on July 30. 

     Of course, it's pretty tough to win when you score four total goals in three games and half of those came from Chris Wagner. We all love the Mayor of Walpole but if he is your leading scorer, you are going nowhere fast except home from the postseason. Charlie McAvoy-against Tampa-and Jake DeBrusk-today against Washington-had the other goals if you were keeping track. No Bruins update would be complete without some Tuukka Rask drama and it happened right out of the gate when he was "unfit to play"-the 2020 catch-all term for NHL players-against Philadelphia. He's been OK in his two appearances but he allowed a terrible rebound that led to the late game-winning goal vs. Tampa Bay then he also gave up a backbreaking tally to T.J. Oshie with 16 seconds left in the first period this afternoon vs. Washington. From there, Braden Holtby put together his usual lights out performance vs. Boston, finishing with 30 mostly routine saves. Oh and all-around lowlife Tom Wilson fittingly had the deciding goal for the Caps. 

      Jaroslav Halak was not sharp against the Flyers and Rask played every game in the playoffs last year, so I don't expect there to be a goalie controversy. Boston's top forward line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak were held scoreless in these three games but there's no way they go totally missing like that against Carolina (who swept the Rangers in three games). Zdeno Chara obviously looks all of his 78 years old but hopefully grandpa will pick it up when the games mean something. 

     I don't believe that you can take much from last season's sweep by the Bruins of Carolina in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Hurricanes were woefully overmatched and thus, the series was never that competitive. If Covid-19 and this current horrifying existence has taught us anything, it's to take nothing for granted. The Penguins got upset by the Canadiens in four games, same as the Oilers against the Blackhawks. Boston will be favored and they should win the series but I doubt it will be a sweep.

    Most importantly, with all the terrible things going on all over the world right now, at least we have these wonderful playoff games to take us away for a few hours. For that, I could kiss NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on the lips. Haha just kidding, he's still a smug douchebag. 

    Predicting what will happen is a waste of time but we all know how prideful and hard-working this Bruins group has been the last few years. After coming so close to winning another Stanley Cup last June vs. St. Louis (only to choke in Game 7 at TD Garden), it was remarkable how quickly they put that behind them to have a killer regular season. None of that means anything now though, it's a new season and they have to be ready to go from Game 1, unlike the general malaise that they've been stuck in for the last week-plus.  

Game 1: Bruins vs. Hurricanes, Tuesday at 8 p.m. on NESN

Game 2: Bruins vs. Hurricanes, Thursday at 8 p.m. on NESN

Game 3: Bruins vs. Hurricanes, Saturday at 12 p.m. on NBC

Game 4: Bruins vs. Hurricanes, Monday at 8 p.m. on NESN

 

 

Halak Wills B's to Near Win vs. NHL's Best (Caps), Only to Collapse Late & Predictably Lose in SO

Jaroslav Halak (4-1-3) already recorded a shutout this season but I doubt that he'll have a better outing than the one that he turned in tonight ironically enough in a losing effort. He made 42 saves as he did everything that he could to earn two points for Boston (12-3-5) but unfortunately, they coughed up a 2-1 lead late in the third period then of course Washington (14-3-4)-the team with the top record in the league-found a way to beat them 3-2 in a shootout at TD Garden. Patrice Bergeron was a late scratch with a lower-body injury so the already Providence Bruins-filled lineup had a huge void in it with David Krejci bumped up to the top line with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.

Both teams played in Canada last night (Boston won 4-2 at Toronto and Washington lost 5-2 in Montreal) so it was impressive that they still cobbled together such an entertaining playoff-like contest that was chock full of hits, emotion and incredible skill. The Bruins actually led two different times as Charlie Coyle gave them a 1-0 advantage at 11:32 of the first period after a beautiful feed from behind the net by Danton Heinen. Coyle put a one-timer low past Braden Holtby (21 saves, 10-1-3) for his fourth goal of the season with Charlie McAvoy getting the secondary assist. The Caps tied it less than three minutes later though as Travis Boyd (recalled from Hershey ((AHL)) earlier in the day) scored his first goal of the season at 14:27. He tipped in John Carlson's shot from the point with Brendan Leipsic picking up the second assist. Can we talk about how ridiculous that Carlson has been in 2019/2020? That was his NHL-leading 24th helper of the season which also extended his point streak to six games (1 goal, 8 assists). He has 19 points in his last 19 games (8 goals, 11 assists). Where did this offensive explosion come from? He was always known as a physical, steady defensive defenseman and now this which is mind-blowing.

What this game lacked in total goals, it more than made up for in sheer viewing pleasure. The B's went ahead at 3:30 of the second period after David Pastrnak put in a rebound from McAvoy's one-timer that somehow missed the net but fortuitously bounced right to the leading goal-scorer in the NHL (17 and counting). David Krejci had the second assist since he had passed up a great shooting opportunity of his own to feed McAvoy bombing down the slot. Against the run of play, Boston almost took a 3-1 lead when Pasta tipped Matt Grzelcyk's shot but it went off the post. For shits and giggles, Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson ran into each other in Washington's defensive zone (luckily, they were both fine). The scoreboard said Boston 2, Washington 1 after two periods completed despite the fact that the Caps had doubled the Black and Gold in shots on goal (30-15).

The B's had 1:45 left of a power play to start the third but they couldn't convert (their #2 ranked PP was 0-for-3 on the night). Wilson crushed Chris Wagner with a clean open ice hit and on the other end, McAvoy made an incredible recovery play defensively to knock the puck away from Ovi. Krejci tipped a shot from McAvoy that Holtby just got a piece of and the puck trickled wide of the net. Zdeno Chara and Wilson got matching roughing penalties because someone had to settle Washington's intimidating enforcer down just a bit. Coyle had a partial breakaway but Holtby stopped his backhander. Halak matched that by robbing Ovechkin and Carlson's shot hit the crossbar. With an extra skater on the ice, Washington finally tied it up with 58.6 seconds left in regulation. Oshie one-timed a pass from Kuznetsov (4 goals, 7 assists in last 7 games) from point blank range on Halak. Nicklas Backstrom had the second assist on Oshie's 10th goal of the season.

For the third time in four games (all at the Garden), the Bruins had to decide the outcome in overtime or a shootout which is never a good thing for them. Kuznetsov was stopped on a breakaway and Halak also made a good save on Jakub Vrana as Washington outshot Boston 3-2 in overtime (44-23 for the game!). Once it went to a shootout, you might as well have turned off the lights at the Garden. Boston dropped to 0-4 in shootouts this season while Washington improved to 3-1. The B's could only manage one measly goal in five attempts (Coyle in Round 1), making them 2-for-16 this season which seems almost impossibly bad. Backstrom tied it in the third round and Vrana won it in the fifth round. As he did all game long, Halak deserved better after he made a showstopping save on Ovechkin to start Round four.

With Bergeron temporarily on the shelf and Torey Krug placed on IR this afternoon, the beat up Bruins understandably won't practice tomorrow. They will be back to work at Warrior Arena on Monday before they travel to New Jersey for Tuesday's (7, NESN) meeting with the Devils (7-8-4). For awhile, the B's have owned the Devils so that's a team you want to see on their schedule this week. Ditto for the Sabres (10-6-3) who have come crashing back to Earth after an unbelievable start and they make their first visit of the season here on Thursday (7, NESN). Rounding out the manageable week for the Bruins is the lowly Wild (7-11-2) who visit on Saturday night (7, NESN). They are the worst team in the Western Conference and tied with Detroit (7-12-2) for the fewest points in the NHL. I'm not predicting three easy wins but at least on paper, the B's couldn't ask for three more favorable opponents to see when they have so many unproven guys in the lineup.

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At This Point, I've Accepted the Fact That I'll Never See the Bruins Beat the Capitals Again

It is getting quite comical at this point: no matter how well the Bruins (25-15-4) are playing (winners of 5 straight and 8-2-0 in their last 10 games), they simply cannot find a way to defeat the Capitals (27-12-4). Tonight at TD Garden, they tried their best but couldn't get the job done as Washington skated out of town with a 4-2 victory. The B's dropped to a hard-to-believe 0-11-3 in their last 14 games against the defending champs. Their last home win vs. the Caps was almost five years ago (March 6, 2014).

Backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak (18 saves, 13-7-2) got the start despite the fact that Tuukka Rask (12-8-2) has won his last four outings and is finally playing like the better option that he should be. Boston had a much better performance than the 7-0 Opening Night (Oct. 3) beating that they took in D.C. Still, when you nearly double your opponent in shots on goal (41-22) and win almost twice as many faceoffs (42-22), how do you lose? Halak was not at his best but neither were his teammates that managed to somehow turn a whopping 74 shot attempts (41 on goal, 18 blocked, 15 missed net) into just two goals. I'm no Will Hunting but that's not good enough. Haha sorry, had to do it.

On the other side, the best players from the Capitals all showed up. Captain Alex Ovechkin had two goals, Nicklas Backstrom added another and goaltender Braden Holtby (39 saves, 17-10-2) looked nothing like the guy that's had an uneven first half of 2018/19. In the process of standing on his head against the black and gold, Holtby improved to 16-2-0 in his career against them. The Bruins gave up an early first goal, never led and each time that they scored, they allowed a quick and painful rebuttal by the Capitals.

22-year-old left wing Jakub Vrana is one of the young players that is stepping up for the Caps. He's already reached a career-high in goals (15) and he scored on a breakaway at 6:38 of the first period. T.J. Oshie had the lone assist as Washington led 1-0 after the first despite getting mostly dominated (outshot 17-5). Ryan Donato has been scuffling for much of this season in Boston so it was encouraging to see him score on a beautiful snipe over Holtby's glove at 14:11 of the second period. Torey Krug and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson had the assists on Donato's sixth goal of the season. While the PA announcer was talking about that tally, Washington made it a moot point as Ovi slipped loose in the slot 39 seconds later for his NHL-best 31st goal of the season. The NHL's public enemy No. 1 Tom Wilson had the lone assist on the backbreaking goal.

Boston fell to 1-12-1 when they trail after two periods so when they were down 2-1 headed into the third, we should have already given any fleeting hope that we had left. The B's had 1:53 of a power play that carried over from the second but they couldn't convert on that one. Luckily the Capitals were called for too many men on the ice (served by Ovechkin) shortly after that and the Bruins' No. 3 ranked power play finally cashed in on its fifth opportunity. David Krejci blasted a shot by Holtby at 4:37 that tied it at two apiece. Danton Heinen and David Backes provided the assists on Krejci's eighth goal of the season. This time it took the Caps just over a minute (1:09) to respond. Backstrom beat Halak with a low-hard shot from some distance that truthfully, he would stop when he was on top of his game (he admitted as much afterwards). Oshie and rookie defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler had the assists on Backstrom's 11th goal of the season.

Halak actually made a bunch of quality saves after that to keep the Bruins in it but they never really tested Holtby too much more. Ovechkin ended any suspense that remained as he put in an empty-netter from a faceoff circle in his own defensive zone at 18:25. The good news for the Bruins is that they won't see the Capitals again unless it is in the postseason this spring. We'll worry about that if and when it occurs.

For now, they're onto Toronto (28-13-2) on Saturday night (7, NESN). It's a huge Atlantic Division showdown and the last meeting of the regular season for those Original Six rivals. The B's lead it 2-1 but Toronto is four points ahead of them for second-place and they have a game in hand. Rask will be back in net and it looks like defenseman Charlie McAvoy could make another return from his latest mysterious injury (foot). It's a difficult few days as they come back here to host Montreal (23-17-5) on Monday (7:30, NESN).

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An Overtime Loss to the Blues Isn't the End of the World

Not every point feels the same in the NHL, some are much more difficult to come by and therefore you have to enjoy those differently. Tonight at Scottrade Center was that kind of story as the Bruins lost 3-2 to the Blues in overtime on a goal by T.J. Oshie (go Team USA!). However, Boston (36-16-4) rallied from down 2-0 in the third period against St. Louis (38-12-6)-one of the top teams in the league-to earn a point.

It must be noted that the B's lost both games vs. the Blues this season (3-2 in a shootout at TD Garden) but still gained two points. The way it played out, the valiant comeback was the story line. Of course, I have to mention that Bruins captain Zdeno Chara had skipped this contest to hold Slovakia's flag at the Olympic opening ceremonies-I guess that is a valid excuse.

St. Louis scored first as Alexander Steen's career year continued. Boston's defense gave him too much space and he made them pay with a slap shot by Tuukka Rask (24 saves) at 15:48 of the second period. It was his 28th goal of the season-4th best in the NHL and tied with Sidney Crosby and Patrick Sharp. Ever hear of them?

Rookie Kevan Miller got in Rask's way and it cost them as Jaden Schwartz beat him at 3:32 of the second period for a 2-0 Blues lead. The Bruins poured 24 shots on Jaroslav Halak (Chara's countryman) in the first two periods. They finally cracked him about midway through the third. David Krejci scored at 9:16 from Jarome Iginla and Milan Lucic. It was Krejci's 13th goal of the season.

2:08 after Krejci's goal, Brad Marchand tied it on his 18th goal of the season, assists to Johnny Boychuk and Torey Krug. Krejci's goal was prettier since it the end of a sweet passing sequence. Marchand's was simply a rebound that he put in from a tough angle. Regardless, they're all worth the same. I felt like the B's would pull it out since they possessed all the momentum but the Blues handed them their first OT loss of the season (they had been 4-0).

This is it, Boston wraps up play before the Olympic break on Saturday afternoon (3, NESN) vs. Ottawa (26-21-11, 6th in Atlantic Division). No doubt the Bruins want a good taste in their mouth when many of them will be off for 2.5 weeks. It's all about beating the Senators before some much deserved rest then warp speed through the final 25 games in the regular season.

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