Photo: @Capitals/Twitter
The Washington Capitals fell to the Boston Bruins by a score of 5-2 Tuesday night at TD Garden in their final 2022-23 season road game. The loss dropped the Capitals’ record to 35-37-9 and 79 points on the season. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 33 saves before leaving with an injury in the third period. Darcy Kuemper made six remaining saves in the loss.
Lines & Pairs
Conor Sheary – Dylan Strome – Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano – Nicklas Backstrom – Craig Smith
Joe Snively – Evgeny Kuznetsov — Henrik Borgstrom
Beck Malenstyn – Aliaksei Protas – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin – Alex Alexeyev
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Injuries: Left-wing Carl Hagelin (hip), right-wing Connor Brown (ACL), right-wing T.J. Oshie (upper-body), defenseman Trevor Van Riemsdyk (upper-body), left wing Anthony Mantha (lower-body), captain Alex Ovechkin (upper-body), and center Nic Dowd
Transactions: The Capitals recalled forward Henrik Borgstrom from the AHL’s Hershey Bears Tuesday afternoon, and he made his team debut against the Bruins.
First Period
No goals were scored in the first twenty minutes.
Quick Stats
SOG: 12-7 Bruins
Face-Off Win %: 71% (Bruins), 29% (Capitals)
Hits: 10-10
Second Period
Left-wing Brad Marchand would open the scoring on a power play to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead 8:32 into the middle frame.
Bradley buries one. pic.twitter.com/pv0jjXxeMu
— p – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 12, 2023
Boston’s lead would be extended to 2-0 with a goal from left-wing Tyler Bertuzzi on another man advantage at the 14:20 mark.
Tyler took care of it. pic.twitter.com/bOdiKPmLJh
— p – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 12, 2023
Sixty-seven seconds later, Jensen (5) would put the Capitals on the board, making it a 2-1 game.
Jensen strikes! pic.twitter.com/lpYaJDGVlW
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 12, 2023
Quick Stats
Total SOG: 25-16 Bruins
Face-Off Win %: 69% (Bruins), 31% (Capitals)
Total Hits: 17-16 Capitals
Third Period
At the 4:13 mark, Bruins’ left-wing Tomas Nosek gave the home team a 3-1 lead.
Tomas puts us up ✌️ pic.twitter.com/QmIhokixUR
— p – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 12, 2023
With 14:39 left, Lindgren exited the game after an awkward save, and Kuemper entered the net.
Charlie Lindgren has been simply incredible tonight
Rest up, Chuckie ❤️#ALLCAPS | @WeAreHII pic.twitter.com/9gZ5zGPJ2q
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 12, 2023
Wilson (12) would put Washington back within one, 3-2, at the 7:13 mark on a power play. Strome (41) and Carlson (20) assisted.
Roooooofed pic.twitter.com/YosUGxN6ha
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 12, 2023
Thirty-six seconds later, former Capital right-wing Garnet Hathaway would give the Bruins a 4-2 lead.
Gross, Garnet (and Tomas). pic.twitter.com/9QCjJ3Zfh9
— p – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) April 12, 2023
Over in Boston’s net, netminder Linus Ullmark was replaced with Jeremy Swayman after looking “uncomfortable,” according to The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa.
Bruins’ left-wing Jake DeBrusk would make it a 5-2 final game late in the period.
Quick Stats
Total SOG: 44-27 Bruins
Face-Off Win %: 70% (Bruins), 30% (Capitals)
Total Hits: 25-20 Capitals
Notes Through the Game
- With the goal, Jensen ties his single-season career high in goals (2021-22: 5g; 2016-17: 5g).
- This season, Jensen has set career highs in assists (23) and points (28).
- Wilson extends his goal and point streaks to three games (3g, 2a).
- Strome extends his point streak to five games (5g, 2a). It marks Strome’s second point streak of at least five games this season (6 games, 3/4/23-3/15/23: 3g-7a–10p).
- Carlson has reached the 20-assist mark for the 12th time in his career and the 10-straight season.
The Capitals close out their 2022-23 season by hosting the New Jersey Devils on Thursday at Capital One Arena. NBC Sports Washington will have the coverage beginning at 7 PM ET.
By Della Young
CALL UP SHEPARD! He deserves it!
Outstanding call. I hope Charlie is ok, but Shep Daddy deserves it. He’s more than earned it, too.
Bringing up Shepard sounds like a great idea. Except will the Caps be allowed to do so, due to salary cap limitations? And would they be stuck with an EBUG?
Cant they call him up because it is due to injury?
If Lindgren is to injured to go on Thursday, will the Caps be stuck using an EBUG as backup due to salary cap limitations?
Locker said that Craig Smith “always gives 150%.” Does that mean the guys who give 110% are dogging it? 🤔
Statistically, yes 😁
One of my least favorite phrases in sports. I’m too OCD to not cringe when someone states that, and I think “that’s mathematically impossible”.
This explains a lot! 🙂
The Penguins somehow lost to the Hawks; very funny. Once the Caps are out, I just hope the playoffs are as ridiculous and chaotic as possible.
Make it stop!
The wrong Bears won tonight and the right Bears lost. I wonder if Bear Hughes will be back on the ice tomorrow night.
According to TribLive, Cats are in, and if the Isles get a single point Wednesday, the Pits join the Caps on summer vacation.
These two franchises are joined at the hip. Can’t we do something without the Pens copying us, and vice versa?! It’s like having your little sister tag along, when you’re trying to act cool for your friends, when you were a teenager, and she imitates everything you do.
Sheesh!
HCPL needs to go. What’s the point of bringing up Borgstrom to look at if you hardly play him. It’s not like we were playing for anything. Seems another poor personnel decision on his part. Surprise, surprise
He’s not the right coach for a younger team. He was originally brought in to implement accountability which he did. The story needs have changed.
Greetings folks! Just a quick note, if you haven’t done so already, please consider subscribing to NoVa Caps posts in the “subscribe” box located in the upper right corner. Thank you!
Is it possible for you to have my email address (I registered) without me receiving the emails? I record most games and watch later in the evening and your emails pop up and spoil the results…
Now Dylan McIlrath is being recalled. So who does he take the place of? One of the other callbacks (who’d be going back to Hershey)? Or is another “regular” down with injury as in a regular who is not named Kuemper?
Maybe it’s to replace AA? He did have something happen and was out for a few minutes but came back to finish the game.
The Capitals listened to me, undoubtedly. For the first time in 15 calendar years, they dressed a Finn. So what else should I say, now that I’ve got the teams’ ears? How about “Don’t lean so heavily on the WHL in the draft! And draft a Finn or two!”
Last night Marcus Johansson was seriously crosschecked. He was able to skate off on his own, albeit slowly, and after the game Evason said they hope it’s not serious.