Boston Bruins: Caps win OT heartbreaker; Game 1 reaction
By Connor Floyd
The Boston Bruins lost 3-2 in overtime of Game 1 to the Washington Capitals in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Bruins had every opportunity to steal Game 1 in Washington DC on Saturday night, and let it slip through their fingers. Boston’s offense dominated at the face-off circle and had three more power plays than the Caps, but still were outshot and outworked throughout the entire game.
The Bruins wasted a golden opportunity when the Capitals were forced to throw their backup goalie, Craig Anderson, into the game after Vitek Vanecek left the game due to injury. Anderson was cold, giving up rebound after rebound, but the Bruins were never there to put the puck in the net.
The Bruins offense was not in sync, and while I never want to be a “shoot the puck” guy, the Bruins should have peppered Anderson with shots every chance they got.
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Coach Bruce Cassidy called the Bruins goal-scorers out after the game, saying:
"“Our top guys didn’t seem to have it. I just think that a lot of those guys that had been doing a lot of scoring for us weren’t able to get to their game tonight or get the puck to cooperate or support each other well enough to generate enough offense.”"
Tuukka Rask kept the Boston Bruins in the game
Tuukka Rask was strong tonight, stopping numerous high danger chances to keep the Bruins in the game. The “trade Tuukka” crowd is probably having a field day right now, but let’s get real.
Giving up three goals in 65 minutes to the Washington Capitals, and those three goals being two deflections and a breakaway against a stick-less Charlie McAvoy, should be more than enough to get the Bruins a win. Especially considering Anderson was on the other side of the ice for the majority of the game.
Rask was not the problem last night. Call the OT winner “soft” all you want, but it was deflected right in front of the net and dropped perfectly into Rask’s five-hole. Losing on a puck that slowly trickles into the net is almost always more painful than any regular old goal, but without Rask, the Bruins don’t even get to overtime.
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What to expect in Game 2
The Bruins will get a chance to even things up on Monday night in Washington, DC. After their disappearing act being called out by the head coach, expect the top line of Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron- David Pastrnak to be firing on all cylinders. The Bruins should come out of the gate much more aggressive, especially if Anderson is still in net.