The Capitals beat the Bruins for the 10th straight meeting 3-1, getting two goals from Tom Wilson and another by Alex Ovechkin. Washington was able to string consecutive wins together for the first time since October 5 and 7, the first two games of the season. Holtby improved to 12-2-0 lifetime against the Bruins, making 31 stops. 

The Washington Capitals were back in action on Saturday night in Bean Town to take on the Boston Bruins. The Capitals came into this contest having won 2 of their past 3, most recently a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders on Thursday, and Boston has gone 3-0-3 in their past six, most recently a 2-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. Tuukka Rask and Braden Holtby were the starters in net and the Capitals were looking for their 10th consecutive win again the Bruins. The Bruins were without forwards David Backes, Ryan Spooner, and David Krejci along with defenseman Adam McQuaid, while the Caps continued to work without Matt Niskanen, Andre Burakovsky, Tyler Graovac, and Brett Connolly.

#Caps lines tonight in Boston: 13-19-77, 8-92-25, 18-20-43, 87-83-39. Defense: 29-74, 44-22, 9-4. Holtby vs. Rask. #CapsBruins

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) November 4, 2017

The Capitals beat the Bruins for the 10th straight meeting 3-1, getting two goals from Tom Wilson and another by Alex Ovechkin. Washington was able to string consecutive wins together for the first time since October 5 and 7, the first two games of the season. Holtby improved to 12-2-0 lifetime against the Bruins, making 31 stops.

First Period

Scoring: Tom Wilson scored from just above the goal line to beat Tuukka Rask when he picked up a deflection off Patrice Bergeron at 7:01. Eller got an assist to continue his strong play and Tom Wilson got his first goal of the season.

Wilson from the tough angle! #CapsBruins #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/LKXU8o5A10

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 4, 2017

After getting stopped by Rask on a breakaway on the previous shift, Alex Ovechkin rocketed a cross-ice feed from Evgeny Kuznetsov to beat Rask. Ovechkin got his 11th of the year and his first since an October 20, 4-3 overtime victory at the Detroit Red Wings to put the Capitals ahead 2-0. Kuznetsov got his 13th assist of the season and Orlov picked up just his second assist of the year.

Set it and forget it! @Ovi8 with a one-time blast! #CapsBruins #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/eO4H1XoLlF

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 4, 2017

The Good: Tom Wilson scored his first goal of the season; he was expected to be a bigger part of the offense after Justin Williams and Marcus Johansson left in the offseason. Lars Eller has three goals and six points in his past four games and got an assist on Wilson’s goal. The Capitals struck first for the second consecutive game for the first time since October 9, a 4-3 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ovechkin broke a 5 game streak without a goal. They outshot the Bruins 8-7 through one period of play. Chandler Stephenson got his third assist in two games on Tom Wilson’s goal.

The Bad: The Capitals only had one blocked shot and one takeaway in the first period.

The Ugly: The Capitals gave away the puck seven times while the Bruins only had three.

Second Period

Scoring: David Pastrnak scored his 7th of the year on a nice give and go with Patrice Bergeron. He beat Holtby through the five-hole right in front of the crease at 3:37 to cut the Capitals’ lead in half.

With 1:10 to go in the period, Tom Wilson deflected Brooks Orpik’s shot from the top left corner past Tuukka Rask to regain a two-goal lead. In a period in which the Bruins outplayed the Capitals, the Capitals gave themselves a cushion going into the third period.  It is Wilson’s first career two-goal game in the regular season.

A Two Goal Game for Wilson!! #CapsBruins #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/jEfUMijcXk

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 5, 2017

The Good: The Capitals didn’t let the Bruins gain any momentum heading into the 3rd period striking with 70 seconds left. Wilson is finding his scoring touch after going scoreless his first nine games. The Capitals outshot the Bruins 13-12 in the period and had six takeaways through 40 minutes. No penalties by the Caps through the second frame.

The Bad: The Capitals were 0 for 2 on the power play through two periods and haven’t scored a power-play goal since T.J. Oshie tied the Capitals’ game in Detroit at 3 with 1:01 left in the game to send the game into overtime.

The Ugly: The Capitals gave the puck away 12 times through two periods.

Third Period

Scoring: David Pastrnak scored his second of the game squeaking a shot from just above the goal line and banking it off of Braden Holtby to make it 3-2. That marked Pastrnak’s second of the game.

The Good: Wilson generated another scoring opportunity on a short-handed breakaway and finished the night with five shots. The Capitals killed off a four-minute power play for the Bruins at the beginning of the period and had 3 shots, including 3 breakaways, while killing the penalty. The Bruins had three shots on their first two power plays combined.

The Bad: The Bruins outshot the Capitals 14-6 in the third period.

The Ugly: The Capitals took three penalties in the third period after taking none in the first two periods, including a double minor against Brooks Orpik for high-sticking. Tom Wilson took a tripping penalty and Dmitry Orlov got called for holding.

Game Stats

Shots:                                                Capitals: 27                      Bruins: 33

Power Play:                                      Capitals: 0/2                  Bruins: 1/4

Hits:                                                   Capitals: 23                     Bruins: 25

Blocked Shots:                                  Capitals: 12                     Bruins: 8

Up Next: The Capitals return home on Monday night hosting the Arizona Coyotes kicking off their third set of back-to-backs this season. The Capitals are 3-0-0 in the opener of such games but are 0-3-0 in the backend of back-to-backs. The Capitals visit the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. The Coyotes are at the basement of the standings, going 1-12-1 in their first 14 games. At the moment, they are hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. Despite the record, rookie Clayton Keller has been the early favorite to win the Calder Trophy. He has nine goals and 15 points through 14 games on the campaign.

By Harrison Brown