Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals rallied to beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 Wednesday night at Capital One Arena. T.J. Oshie scored a pair of goals in the second period, the Capitals penalty kill was a perfect 5 for 5 and Braden Holtby stopped 30 of 32 shots for the hard fought victory. The win improves the Capitals record to 23-5-5 (51 points) for the season.

GAME SUMMARY
The Bruins fired the opening salvo midway through the first frame for a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. The Capitals would take their first lead of the game with two goals from T.J. Oshie early in the middle frame for a 2-1 lead at the second break. The Bruins would tie the game early in the final period, but moments later John Carlson would restore the Capitals lead at 3-2, and that would be the final.

GAME STATS

• NHL box score
• Natural Stat Trick
• Evolving Hockey
• Money Puck
• Hockey Viz
• Game Stat Card

STARTERS
Braden Holtby (15-3-0-4, 2.84 GAA, .909 sv%) started between the pipes for the Capitals. Jeroslav Halak (7-2-0-3, 2.22 GAA, .930 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Bruins. The Capitals starting forward lines and defensive pairs:

Scratches: Travis Boyd

FIRST PERIOD
Both sides had several decent scoring chances in the early going of this one. The Bruins would take the game’s first lead with a tally from David Pastrnak at 9:36 of the opening frame.

Guess who? 🍝

It’s @pastrnak96 doing what he does best. 🚨@NHLBruins | #BOSvsWSH pic.twitter.com/b67iH6EVyE

— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) December 12, 2019

Moments later Tom Wilson and Zdeno Chara would drop the gloves after Chara took offense to hit Wilson made on him.

T.J. Oshie would tie the game early in the second period.

Zdeno Chara and Tom Wilson trading punches pic.twitter.com/1toGwkmFzu

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) December 12, 2019

The Bruins would appear to stretch the lead to 2-0 with a goal from Patrice Bergeron at 15:35, but the Capitals challenged the play for offsides, and won the challenge, keeping the score 1-0.

The first period would conclude with the Bruins leading 1-0. The Capitals led in shots on goal 8-7 and in shot attempts 21-10. The Bruins were 0 for 2 and the Capitals 0 for 1 on the power play in the first frame.

SECOND PERIOD
The Capitals would tie the game early in the middle frame with a power play score from T.J. Oshie (12) at 4:35 of the middle frame. John Carlson (33) had the lone assist.

Slam dunk oshbabe! pic.twitter.com/aQkst6Xma1

— Washington ☃️ Capitals (@Capitals) December 12, 2019

Moments later the Capitals would take their first lead with another goal from T.J. Oshie (13) at 8:05 of the middle frame. Evgeny Kuznetsov (19) and Jakub Vrana (13) had the helpers.

T.J. Oshie-t we have the lead! pic.twitter.com/ZlzyxdvIjT

— Washington ☃️ Capitals (@Capitals) December 12, 2019

The second period would end with the Capitals leading 2-1. Boston led in shots on goal 15-6 and shot attempts 18-11 for the middle frame.

Boston led in shots on goal 23-14 with the Capitals leading in shot attempts 33-29 after two periods. The Bruins were 0 for 4 and the  Capitals 1 for 3 on the power play after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD
The Bruins would tie the game early in the final frame with a goal from Sean Kuraly at 2:53 of the third period. The goal came just after a Bruins power play expired.

Quick look at Kuraly’s tip in from a shot by Krug #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/IvQ3N4qK4r

— Wicked Take (@WickedTake) December 12, 2019

Capitals Captain Alex Ovechkin, who was held without a shot in the game for just the 14th time in his career, accidentally steamrolled an offficial five minutes into the final frame.

Ovechkin runs over official Jon McIsaac. Good time for my catch phrase: “Nothing good ever comes from approaching contact with two hands on a stick parallel to the ice.” pic.twitter.com/SkTlVeSvY5

— ToughCall 🇨🇦 (@ToughCallBlog) December 12, 2019

The tie was short lived. The Capitals would retake the lead with a goal from John Carlson at 4:42 of the final period. Nicklas Backstrom (16) and Tom Wilson (10) had the assists.

GO JOHNNY GO!!!!! pic.twitter.com/3sfyWLoExa

— Washington ☃️ Capitals (@Capitals) December 12, 2019

The Capitals would hang on for the 3-2 win.

The Capitals are back on the ice this Saturday when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning. Puck drop is just after 7:00 PM.

QUICK STATS

• The Bruins led in shots on goal 32-25.
• Braden Holtby stopped 30 of 32 shots faced for a .938 game save percentage.
• The Capitals led in shot attempts 46-39 for the game.
• The Bruins were 0 for 5 and the Capitals 1 for 3 on the power play, the difference in the game.
• The Capitals led in hits 40-20.
• The Bruins won the battle at the dot 59-41%
• Lars Eller, Dmitry Orlov and John Carlson led the Capitals in shots with 3.

SHAVINGS

• John Carlson (33 GP) required the fewest games by a defenseman to record his 45th point of a season since Al MacInnis in 1990-91 (32 GP w/ CGY). 
• John Carlson’s five game-winning goals (33 GP) are one shy of the @Capitals single-season franchise record by defensemen (Kevin Hatcher: 6 in 83 GP, 1992-93
• John Carlson, with 45 points, currently has a 15 point lead over the next highest scoring defenseman.
• John Carlson’s 2 point effort in the @Capitals win over the Bruins tonight not only moved him to 5th in the scoring race so far this season, it tied him for the 2nd fastest to 45 points on this franchise list.
• His goal marked Carlson’s 12th of the season. His single season high is 15 (2017-18).

• In the 22 games with Carl Hagelin in the lineup, the Capitals have killed 69 of the 78 opportunities (88.5 percent).
• The Capitals have not lost back-to-back games all season.
• Tonight, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom played in their 897th career game together: In games together, their stat line reads: Alex Ovechkin, 548g, 449a, 997 points; Nicklas Backstrom: 228g, 639a, 867 points.
• Nicklas Backstrom has earned 42 points (8g, 34a) in 39 career games, and a point in 14 of his last 17 games against Boston (4g, 17a). Since he entered the NHL in 2007-08, the Capitals are 24-0-0 against the Bruins when Backstrom earns a point.
• The Capitals have won 16 of their last 17 games against the Bruins (16-1-0). Washington has outscored Boston 48-24 over that 17-game span.
• The Capitals (33 GP) required the second fewest games to collect their 50th standings point, trailing only the 2015-16 campaign (32 GP).
• Alex Ovechkin was held without a shot on goal for the 14th time in his career. The Caps are 10-3-1 in games when he doesn’t have a shot on goal.
• This was the sixth time Ovechkin had no shots and no points in 1117 games played.
• Nicklas Backstrom was also held to no shots on goal in the game.

SCENES FROM THE DISTRICT

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