Photo: x/@Capitals
The Washington Capitals played their highest scoring affair thus far in their fourth exhibition slate against the Boston Bruins. It was the most eventful contest of the preseason, as the Caps prevailed 5-4 in overtime thanks to Matthew Phillips. Here is how it went down.
FIRST PERIOD
It was a scoring parade in the first 20 minutes.
26 seconds into the game, Connor McMichael got Washington on the board after John Carlson threw a soft puck on Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark. McMichael buried a juicy rebound on the backhand to give the Caps a 1-0 lead.
https://x.com/Capitals/status/1709347689920356752?s=20
However, that lead would only last 27 seconds. On a 3-on-2 odd-man rush, David Pastrnak flipped a cross ice pass to James van Riemsdyk, who sniped a shot past Darcy Kuemper tying the game at one.
https://x.com/NHLBruins/status/1709347484567208392?s=20
The Bruins caught the Capitals in transition which led to another odd-man break. Milan Lucic was the recipient of a Charlie McAvoy drop pass and quickly dished the puck to rookie defenseman Mason Lohrei, and he wristed one to the far-side of Darcy Kuemper, giving the B’s a 2-1 lead.
https://x.com/NHLBruins/status/1709348214573306153?s=20
The Caps tied the game at two on the man-advantage thanks to some pretty passing. Nicklas Backstrom fed the puck down low to Evgeny Kuznetsov, who immediately threw the biscuit to Tom Wilson, riffling a one-timer past Ullmark.
https://x.com/Capitals/status/1709351893376417851?s=20
The passing sequences didn’t stop there. Carlson broke up a play in his own zone and was in a 2-on-2 with Sonny Milano. Milano centered the puck to Dylan Strome who quickly fed it back to him at the near faceoff circle. Milano showed off some nifty stickhandling work, going forehand backhand top shelf over the glove side of Ullmark giving the Caps the lead back.
https://x.com/capsreplays/status/1709355141193707611?s=20
The Caps ended the period with the 13-6 advantage in shots.
SECOND PERIOD
The Bruins came out of the gate with two high quality chances off the rush. Luckily Kuemper came up large. Washington had a few high-danger chances of its own. McMichael had a great net drive and Anthony Mantha forced a turnover and got a shot off.
The Capitals went shorthanded for the second time in the contest, but killed it off.
Milan Lucic tied the game at three after throwing a shot on the net that ricocheted off of Milano’s stick and over the glove of Kuemper.
https://x.com/NHLBruins/status/1709365048282374563?s=20
The Capitals had numerous chances towards the end of the second period and controlled the majority of the 40 minutes. They also got their third man-advantage of the game, and 59 seconds carried over into the third.
THIRD PERIOD
43 seconds into the final 20, Carlson gave the Caps a 4-3 lead on the remaining 59 seconds of the power play. Kuznetsov drew three Bruins’ penalty killers towards him and Carlson wired one from the point. The puck deflected off of Lohrei and went through Ullmark’s five hole.
https://x.com/Capitals/status/1709375724086346159?s=20
The Caps failed to hold the lead for a sustained period of time. Matthew Poitras drove in front of the crease and tucked it past Kuemper, evening the game at four.
https://x.com/NHLBruins/status/1709377172253614136?s=20
OVERTIME
The Capitals had all the chances in overtime. Wilson thought he had scored but the puck was on Ullmark’s backside on the line. McMichael also had a glorious chance. Towards the tail end of the extra session, Phillips had enough and danced around Pastrnak and ripped one over the blocker side of Ullmark ending the game.
UP NEXT
The Capitals travel to the Buckeye State to faceoff against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday Oct. 5 at Nationwide Arena.
By Jacob Cheris