By: Liz Rizzo| Follow me on Twitter @pastagrl88
The Boston Bruins returned to the TD Garden this afternoon after a nine-day All-Star break to face the Washington Capitals, who are looking to secure a Wild Card spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Boston fell behind early in the game and was unable to quickly bounce back when needed.
A bad turnover and too many unnecessary penalties cost the Bruins any chance of gathering momentum. Despite some bursts of great gameplay from the B’s, Washington ultimately came away with a gritty 2-1 win. The series between these teams are tied at one apiece and they will meet for the last time in April. Boston is now 39-7-5.
GAME NOTES
A chippy start to the first saw moments of point-blank shot attempts by the Boston Bruins while the Capitals took advantage of an early power play. The first period saw a cluster of penalties that initially gave the B’s the power play but things escalated quickly. Erik Gustafson was nabbed for tripping against David Pastrnak. Boston found themselves down a player when Brad Marchand was called for slashing goaltender Darcy Kuemper during a scoring attempt.
Washington’s Evgeny Kuznetsov quickly reacted to the Marchand play and skated off on a cross-checking penalty. Boston’s Charlie Coyle went off for a hooking penalty at the draw seconds after the Marchand penalty. Eight seconds later Hampus Lindholm would get called for interference after shooting away a loose stick on the ice.
In his 11th game of the season, Nicklas Backstrom scored the period’s lone goal, giving the Capitals a 1-0 lead to close out the first. Boston was outshot seven to ten.
There was more urgency to the Bruins’ gameplay to open up the second period as the team looked to tie the game. Garnet Hathaway made it 2-0 after the Bruins were unable to clear the puck out. The Capitals were once again on the power play when David Krejci was nabbed for tripping against Erik Gustafson.
With the puck bouncing around Wasihngton’s net, the Bruins would get on the scoreboard. Nick Foligno wristed one in after a solid play behind the net by Connor Clifton, making the score 2-1. Boston outshot the Caps 11 to four.
What looked to be an early Capitals’ power play was short-lived when Alex Ovechkin skated off on an interference call against Brandon Carlo. The Bruins were back on the man advantage when Dmitry Orlov was assessed with a tripping penalty against David Krejci. With a little over nine minutes left to the game, both Ovehckin and Marchand would sit on tripping and hi-sticking infractions (no goal).
The Capitals would get a very late penalty (25 seconds left to the game) giving the Bruins a six-on-four power play as the Bruins pulled Jeremy Swayman out of the net. Despite all efforts, Boston would lose 2-1 and have now lost four out of their last five games.
FINAL SCORE: BOS-1, WSH-2
TOTAL SHOTS ON GOAL: BOS-28, WSH-23
NEXT GAME: Tuesday, February 14th versus the Dallas Stars with puck drop at 8:30 PM
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