Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
The Washington Capitals downed the Boston Bruins, 4-2 Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena. The victory improved the Capitals record to 40-22-10 (90 points) on the season and gives the Capitals a sweep of their weekend back-to-back set with the Penguins and Bruins.
Following a scoreless first frame, John Carlson continued his hot streak sniping one early in the second period, but the Bruins would answer three minutes later to tie it up 1-1 and score again a minute after that to take their first lead of the game, 2-1. Tom Wilson would pot his 23rd of the season for a 2-2 tie at the second intermission.
The Capitals regained the lead on Lars Eller’s 10th goal of the season. Alex Ovechkin added an empty net goal for the 4-2 win.
STATS
STARTERS
Vitek Vanecek (17-11-0-5, 2.60 GAA, .911 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Linus Ullmark (23-9-0-2, 2.58 GAA, .912 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Bruins. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
FIRST PERIOD
The Capitals and Bruins skated to a scoreless draw in the first frame.
The Capitals killed the majority of two Bruins’ power plays in the first frame, leaving 13 seconds of penalty kill time to start the second period.
The Capitals rallied to even-up shot attempts at 13-13 in the first. The Bruins led in high-danger attempts 5-4, but the Capitals led in expected goals for .96 to .84.
SECOND PERIOD
The Capitals opened the scoring on a snipe from John Carlson (14) at 4:11 of the second period. Conor Sheary (20) had the lone assist.
The Bruins quickly answered with a tally from Curtis Lazar (8) at 7:55 of the middle frame. Nick Foligno had the lone assist.
One minute later the Bruins would take their first lead of the game on Erik Haula’s 14th goal of the season. Charlie McAvoy (44) had the lone assist.
The Capitals would tie the score with a goal from Tom Wilson (23) at 14:50 of the second period. Lars Eller (15) and Anthony Mantha (8) had the helpers.
The middle frame ended, tied 2-2. The Bruins led in shot attempts 24-18 in the middle period and 38-29 after two periods. The Bruins were 0 for 3 on the power play after two periods. The Capitals did not have a power play through two periods.
THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals regained the lead on a Lars Eller (10) tally at 7:18 of the final frame. Nick Jensen had the lone assist.
Alex Ovechkin added an empty net goal for the 4-2 final.
The Bruins led in shot attempts 57-42 for the game. The Capitals were 0 for 2 on the power play while the Bruins were 0 for 4 on the man advantage.
The Capitals are back in action on Tuesday when they host the Philadelphia Flyers at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM
SHAVINGS
- John Carlson gave the Caps a 1-0 lead with his 14th goal of the season. That marks his third straight game with a point (3g, 4a), and he’s just one goal shy of his third career 15 goal season.
- Conor Sheary picked up the lone assist on Carlson’s goal, his 20th point and 36th point of the season (16g, 20a). That’s the fifth-most points on Washington this season.
- Tom Wilson tied the game 2-2 with his 23rd goal of the season. With that goal, Wilson has now set single season career highs in goals (23), assists (27) and points (50) this season. He’s the seventh forward from the 2012 NHL Draft class with a 50-point season.
- Lars Eller recorded the primary assist on Wilson’s goal, his 15th assist of the season. Twelve of Eller’s 15 assists have been primary assists.
- Lars Eller gave the Caps a 3-2 lead with his second point of the day (1g, 1a) and his 10th goal of the season.
- Nick Jensen picked up the primary assist on Eller’s goal. Jensen is now just one point shy of tying his single-season high of 20 points set in the 2018-19 season.
- Alex Ovechkin scored an empty net goal to extend the Capitals’ lead to 4-2. It marks Ovechkin’s 45th goal this season and the 775th of his career.
- The Capitals’ 45 hits against Boston tied a single-game high for the season (March 28 vs. Carolina: 45 hits).
- John Carlson recorded two points (1g, 1a) against Boston, marking his third straight multi-point game (April 6 – April 10: 3g, 5a).
Another good win, but the Caps got tested a lot. Have to handle that forecheck a lot better so they can break out; too much time in our own end; gotta clear that crease too, I don’t like so many players setting up in front of our goalies.
But they were getting some great chances and going more to the net. I hope they remember to do that and start ramping it up for the playoffs, they can’t always score from the top of the circles. Gotta hope they start hitting their stride in prep for the playoffs
Agree, but it was the second game of a back-to-back set. That needs to account for the tilting of the ice at times.
What an impressive weekend for the Capitals. Gotta keep it rolling against Philly.
Despite the penalty differential Capitals battled through it and played a pretty good game. Vanecek seems to have dusted off the rust as well.
Impressive week, as Caps mow through Tampa, Pittsburg and Boston.
Bruins fans were yelling, “Let’s go, Bruins” throughout the game.
Caps said, “Nothing doin’, Bruins”