Capitals Fall To Bruins, 6-3

Posted on April 18, 2021 by Jon Sorensen
Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals fell to the Boston Bruins, 6-3, Sunday afternoon at TD Garden in Boston. The loss drops the Capitals record to 29-13-4 (62 points) on the season.

The Bruins opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal midway through the first frame. They would add another tally less than four minutes later for an early 2-0 lead. The Capitals would respond with a goal from TJ Oshie with 10 seconds left in the period for a 2-1 score at the first intermission.

The The Capitals would add another goal from TJ Oshie early in the middle frame to tie the game and Anthony Mantha would score his fourth goal in four games to give the Capitals their first lead , 3-2. But the Bruins would answer with goals from Brad Marchand, David Kreijci and Patrice Bergeron to take a 5-3 lead into the second intermission.

The Bruins would add an empty net goal late in the final frame for the 6-3 final.

GAME STATS

STARTERS

Vitek Vanecek (17-8-0-3, 2.69 GAA, .911 SV%) started between the pipes for the visiting Capitals. Tuukka Rask  (11-5-0-1, .910 sv%, 2.31 GAA) got the start in goal for the Bruins. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Scratches: Zdeno Chara, Michael Raffl

Zdeno Chara was a game time decision, lower body injury.

The Capitals acquired Anthony Mantha and Michael Raffl prior to the trade deadline on April 12. Jakub Vrana, Richard Panik and Jonas Siegenthaler were traded prior to the  trade deadline.

FIRST PERIOD

The Capitals were awarded an early four-minute power play after Lars Eller took a stick to the face. But it would be the Bruins who would score first, the seventh shorthanded goal against the Capitals so far this season, which leads the league. Patrice Bergeron would pot the shorthanded tally at 12:02 of the first period.

Less than four minutes later the Bruins would add to their lead with a goal from David Krejci (4) at 13:56 of the opening frame, making it 2-0.

The Capitals would get on the board in the waning moments of the opening frame with a goal from TJ Oshie at 19:50, to make it 2-1 at the first intermission. Nicklas Backstrom (32) had the lone assist.

Capitals defenseman Justin Schultz was ruled out for the remainder of the game with a lower body injury.

The Capitals led in shot attempts 13-9 in the first frame. The Bruins led in scoring chances 6-5. Washington was 0 for 2 and the Bruins 0 for 1 on the power play after 20 minutes.

SECOND PERIOD

The Capitals were awarded their second four-minute power play after the Bruins Connor Clifton hit Conor Sheary in the face with a stick, and this time the Capitals took advantage of the opportunity.

T.J. Oshie would tie the game with a power play goal at 3:48 of the middle frame. His second goal in as many periods. Evgeny Kuznetsov (17) and Nicklas Backstrom (33) had the helpers.

Then Anthony Mantha (15) would give the Capitals their first lead of the game with a power play tally at 4:54 of the second period. Dmitry Orlov (8) and Lars Eller (14) had the assists. Mantha has now scored in all four of his games with the Capitals.

But the Bruins would quickly answer to make it 3-3. Brad Marchand (22) would notch the tying tally at 6:33.

The Bruins would retake the lead with a goal from David Krejci (5) at 16:02 of the second period, making it 4-3.

The Bruins would stretch their lead to 5-3 with a goal from Patrice Bergeron (18) at 17:45 of the middle frame.

The period would end with the Bruins holding a 5-3 lead.  Shot attempts were tied 11-11 in the middle frame. The Bruins led in scoring chances 14-12 after two periods. The Capitals were 2 for 5 and the Bruins 0 for 3 on the power play after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD

The two teams would skate to a scoreless draw for most of the final frame.

Forward Garnet Hathaway was awarded a game misconduct at 9:21 of the third period for boarding defenseman Jarred Tinordi from behind and into the wall

Brad Marchand would add an empty net goal for the 6-3 win.

The Capitals are back on the ice on Thursday when they begin a three-game set with the Islanders in New York.

SHAVINGS

  • T.J. Oshie scored his second goal of the game on the power play to tie the game. It marks Oshie’s team-leading 10th power play goal of the season.
  • Oshie now ranks tied for second in the NHL in power play goals (Kyle Connor, Leon Draisaitl, Steven Stamkos: 10).
  • Anthony Mantha scores his fourth goal in four games with the Capitals to put Washington ahead 3-2. Mantha becomes the first player in franchise history to begin his Capitals tenure with a four-game goal streak.
  • The Capitals have scored multiple power play goals in five of their last seven games, dating back to April 8. The Capitals have scored 12 power play goals on 31 opportunities (38.7%) during that span.
  • Dmitry Orlov recorded the primary assist on the Capitals’ third goal, extending his point streak to five games (2g, 3a).
  • Dmitry Orlov skated a season-high 27:30 time on ice against Boston. It marks the fourth-most minutes he has played in a regular season game in his career.

By Jon Sorensen

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
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5 Responses to Capitals Fall To Bruins, 6-3

  1. Anonymous says:
    April 18, 2021 at 7:13 pm

    That was a good game, we just came up short. Need to take two of three from Islanders this week.

    Reply

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