Capitals Clip Bruins, 3-2 (SO); Jakub Vrana Wins It

Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins by a score of 3-2 in a shootout at TD Garden in Boston on Saturday night. It was the Capitals’ 15th win in their last 16 games vs. Boston. The Capitals are now five points ahead of the New York Islanders for first place in the Metropolitan Division, though the Islanders have four games in hand on the Capitals. Goaltender Braden Holtby made 21 saves in the victory.

Capitals’ Lines at Bruins

#Caps‘ lines vs. BOS:
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
13-Vrana, 19-Backstrom, 77-Oshie
14-Panik, 20-Eller, 21-Hathaway
28-Leipsic, 18-Stephenson, 72-Boyd

6-Kempny, 74-Carlson
9-Orlov, 33-Gudas
34-Siegenthaler, 3-Jensen

Holtby vs. Halak

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) November 16, 2019

The Capitals flipped captain Alex Ovechkin and forward Jakub Vrana in the top-six group, and center Travis Boyd, who was recalled from the AHL’s Hershey Bears on Saturday, drew into the lineup on the fourth line.

Center Patrice Bergeron (lower-body), defenseman Torey Krug (upper-body injury), and forward Jake DeBrusk (lower-body) were among five regulars out for the Bruins on Saturday.

First Period

Forward Charlie Coyle buried a pass from forward Danton Heinen backdoor in the slot wide open through the wickets of Holtby to make it 1-0 Bruins at 11:32.

Boyd tipped in defenseman John Carlson’s shot in the lane past Halak’s blocker to tie it with 5:33 left in the period.

.@Tboyd93 with the deflection!! pic.twitter.com/wvejOE0XNd

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 17, 2019

The Capitals led 18-9 in shots, 13-11 in hits, and won 72% of the draws in the first.

The Bruins led 4-0 in blocked shots, 4-3 in takeaways, and had only three giveaways while the Capitals had nine in the opening stanza.

Neither team converted on one power-play opportunity in the period.

Second Period

Forward David Pastrnak finished a rebound on the goal-line after defenseman Charlie McAvoy missed a wide open net to give the Bruins their one-goal lead back 3:30 into the second.

The Capitals led 30-15 in shots, including 12-6 in the second, 21-16 in hits, and 9-8 in takeaways through two. They won 72% of the faceoffs and went 0-for-2 on the power play in the first two periods.

The Bruins led 10-0 in blocked shots and had only nine giveaways while the Capitals had 11 through 40 minutes. They went 0-for-3 on the power play through the second.

Third Period

Forward T.J. Oshie one-timed center Evgeny Kuznetsov’s pass from the right dot to tie it with 58.6 seconds left in regulation.

🙌🙌🙌 @TJOshie77 ties it up pic.twitter.com/aahEQcBE2U

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 17, 2019

The Capitals led 41-21 in shots, including 6-5 in the third, 28-23 in hits, and 14-12 in takeaways. They won 67% of the faceoffs and went 0-for-2 on the man advantage.

The Bruins led 11-5 in blocked shots and had only 15 giveaways while the Capitals had 20. They went 0-for-3 on the power play.

The game went to overtime.

Overtime

The Capitals led 3-2 in overtime shots and 44-23 for the game, but overtime was not enough to find a winner. The game moved to a shootout.

Shootout

Oshie was shut down by Halak with the glove in the first round.

Coyle beat Holtby through the five-hole after going back and forth on the deke.

Kuznetsov hit the inside of the post blocker side.

Holtby shut down the five-hole on Pastrnak’s backhand attempt.

Backstrom roared in and tied the game, beating Halak over the glove.

Marchand flew in but Holtby thwarted him with the stick.

Ovechkin was denied by Halak’s glove on the goal-line after he deked.