Capitals Give Up Six Unanswered Goals, Blitzed By Bruins, 7-3

Posted on January 10, 2022 by Jon Sorensen
Photo: Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

The Washington Capitals fell to the Boston Bruins, 7-3, Monday night at Capital One Arena. The Capitals jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead early in the first period, but then proceeded to give up six unanswered goals and the game. The loss drops the Capitals’ record to 20-8-9 (49 points) on the season.

The Capitals opened with a pair of goals from Conor Sheary for a quick 2-0 lead, but the Bruins would answer with a pair of power play goals late in the first frame for a 2-2 game at the first intermission.

The Bruins would score their third unanswered goal early in the middle frame for their first lead of the contest. They would add three more unanswered goals, six total, before T.J. Oshie would dent the twine to make it 6-3 at the second intermission.

The Bruins would add another tally from Brad Marchand midway through the final frame, to make it 7-3. That would be the final.

STATS

STARTERS

Zach Fucale (1-0-0-1, 0.42 GAA, .980 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Linus Ullmark (10-5-o-0, 2.54 GAA, .918 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Bruins. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Scratches: Dmitry Orlov (COVID protocol), Carl Hagelin (COVID protocol), Dennis Cholowski.

FIRST PERIOD

The Capitals opened scoring on Conor Sheary’s x goal of the season at 3:02 of the first frame. Nic Dowd (5) and Garnet Hathaway (6) had the helpers.

Conor Sheary (10) would do it again at 12:32 of the opening stanza. The goal was unassisted.

The Bruins would be awarded a 5-on-3 power play late in the period after Nic Dowd drew blood on a high stick to Brad Marchand, but the Capitals were able to survive the Bruins two-man advantage.

John Carlson would be whistled for a penalty with less than two minutes remaining in the period to reinstate the Bruins 5-on-3 and this time they would cash in. David Pastrnak (12) would pot the tally at 18:34, cutting the Capitals lead to 2-1. Brad Marchand (20) and Matt Grzelcyk (8) had the assists.

Brad Marchand (15) would tie the game on the remaining 5-on-4 power play at 19:14 of the first period. The goal was unassisted.

The period would end with the game tied 2-2. Capitals led in shots on goal 11-10 in the first 20  instead. Boston was 2 for 4 and Washington 0 for 1 in the power play in the first period of play.

SECOND PERIOD

The Bruins would take their first lead of the game with a goal from Matt Grzelcyk (2) at 2:51 of the sec0nd period. Anton Blidh (4) had the lone assist.

The Bruins would score their fourth unanswered goal of the game with a tally from Craig Smith (4) at 7:53,of the period. The Capitals pulled Zach Fucale after the fourth goal and replaced him with Vitek Vanecek.

But the Bruins scoring would continue. David Pastrnak (13) scored Boston’s fifth unanswered goal at 8:54 of the second period. It was their third goal of the period on just seven shots.

The Bruins would quickly make it six unanswered goals with a tally from Erik Haula (3) at 13:09 of the middle frame.

The Capitals would finally stop the bleeding with a tally from T.J. Oshie (x) at 14:06 of the second period, making it 6-3, Bruins.

The period would end with the Bruins leading 6-3. Shots on goal were tied 10-10 in the second period. Boston was 2 for 4 and Washington 0 for 1 on the power play after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD

The Bruins would make it 7-3 on Brad Marchand’s second goal of the game at 9:01 of the third period.

That would be the final.

The Capitals are back in action on Saturday when they make their first visit to USB Arena in New York to face the Islanders.

SHAVINGS

  • Conor Sheary opened the scoring for the Capitals with his ninth goal of the season. Sheary is now 10 points shy of 200 career points.
  • Alex Ovechkin picked up the primary assist on Oshie’s goal. Ovechkin’s 28 assists this season rank seventh in the NHL.

SCENES FROM CAP ONE

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.
This entry was posted in News, Washington Capitals and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

1 Response to Capitals Give Up Six Unanswered Goals, Blitzed By Bruins, 7-3

  1. DC Scappeli says:
    January 11, 2022 at 1:46 pm

    Just a bad, slow implosion. It all fell apart after the two goals and then they blow a lead again. Can Lavi fix this or not? If not, some players need to sit until they fix it.

    Like ol’ Dean Evason said, “get in somebody’s face…grab your sack and compete… please!”

    Reply

Leave a Reply