Photo: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

The Washington Capitals defeated the Boston Bruins by a score of 2-1 in the season finale for both teams at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night before the two teams start their best-of-seven series in the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Capitals finished the season tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for first place in the East Division but the Penguins clinched the top seed with more regulation-overtime wins (34-33) than the Capitals. Goaltender Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves in the victory.

Capitals’ Lines vs. Bruins

 Photo: @Capitals

Center Nicklas Backstrom, who missed Saturday’s 2-1 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers with a lower-body injury, played. Defenseman John Carlson, who also missed Saturday’s game for the same reason, did not. Captain Alex Ovechkin, who has played just 39 seconds in the last nine games due to a lower-body injury, returned to the lineup after being labeled as a game-time decision prior to Tuesday’s game. Forward T.J. Oshie, who suffered a lower-body injury in Saturday’s game, did not play. Center Evgeny Kuznetsov and goaltender Ilya Samsonov each missed their fifth game on COVID-19 protocol. The Capitals recalled forward Philippe Maillet from the taxi squad on Tuesday and he centered the third-line. They also assigned center Garrett Pilon to the taxi squad.

Here’s the full list of Bruins regulars not playing today, per Cassidy:

Bergeron
Marchand
Pastrnak
Krejci
Hall
Smith
Kuraly
Coyle
Kase
Rask
McAvoy
Grzelcyk
Reilly
Carlo
Lauzon
Miller@conroyherald: “Quite the list.”

Cassidy: “You asked.”

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) May 11, 2021

First Period

The Capitals led 9-6 in shots, 16-13 in hits, had one giveaway while the Bruins had two, and did not score on one power play in the first.

The Bruins led 9-4 in blocked shots, 3-2 in takeaways, and won 55% of the draws in the opening stanza.

Each team did not score on their lone man advantage of the period.

Second Period

Forward Curtis Lazar tapped defenseman Jared Tinordi’s backhand feed from down low into a wide open net in the crease after catching the puck with his skate to open the scoring for the Bruins at 10:11.

Forward Carl Hagelin jammed home a loose puck in the crease after Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman stopped defenseman Zdeno Chara’s point shot that was deflected by forward Garnet Hathaway and scrambled out of position to tie it with 3:45 left. Hathaway set a career-high with his 12th assist of the season.

How could you not love this line??? pic.twitter.com/nYqaCcGCHz

— x – Washington Capitals (@Capitals) May 12, 2021

The Capitals led 26-14 in shots, including 17-8 in the second, 7-4 in takeaways, and won 52% of the faceoffs through 40 minutes.

The Bruins led 16-4 in blocked shots and 22-20 in hits in the first two periods.

Each team did not score on one power play and had three giveaways through the end of two.

Third Period

Forward Michael Raffl roofed one on Swayman from below the goal-line to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead with three seconds left. The goal was his first as a Capital.

What a first goal in red for Raffl🚁! pic.twitter.com/x5ModpcKCt

— x – Washington Capitals (@Capitals) May 12, 2021

The Capitals led 32-25 in shots, 8-7 in takeaways, 39-33 in hits, and won 62% of the faceoffs.

The Bruins led 11-5 in third-period shots, 21-10 in blocked shots, and had four giveaways while the Capitals had nine.

Each team did not score on one power play.

The Capitals and Bruins will open their seven-game first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series at Capital One Arena on Saturday night. Action can be seen on NBC beginning at 7:15 PM ET.

By Harrison Brown