Boston Bruins: The good, bad and the ugly in the loss vs Caps
By Zachary McMahon
The Boston Bruins lost a Saturday Afternoon matinee against the Washington Capitals, 2-1. This was the Bruins’ first game since the NHL All-Star Break.
Ten days ago, the Bruins won against rival Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 in their last game.
The Capitals’s break was even longer with their last game being on January 31st on an Overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets by a Evgeny Kuznetsov goal 26 seconds into Overtime.
In their last matchup, the black & gold won against the Capitals on the season opener, 5-2 on October 12th where Pasternak had a goal and three assists in the game.
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Bruins right-winger Nick Foligno scored the only goal in the 2nd period for the Bruins while being assisted by Kyle Clifton and Taylor Hall. That was Foligno’s 8th goal of the season for the Bruins.
Jeremy Swayman was in net for the Bruins and he had 21 saves while allowing the 2 goals that the Caps scored.
The good: Boston Bruins kept Alexander Ovechkin in check
Alexander Ovechkin is 82 goals away from matching Wayne Gretzky’s record of most goals all-time. He didn’t get closer to that record in this game as he didn’t score a goal against Swayman and the B’s.
In fact, Ovechkin was limited to two shots in the game, and Ovechkin went into the penalty box twice in the 3rd period. Ovechkin caused a 4-on-4 powerplay when he interfered Brandon Carlo early in the period. Ovechkin also went into the box for high-sticking Brad Marchand in the middle of the period.
Keeping Ovechkin in check should’ve helped the Bruins win this game, but the Capitals were able to fight through the Bruins defense.
The bad: Boston Bruins allowed early goals
In the first period, the Bruins faced a 5-to-3 Power Play due to penalties from Charlie Coyle and Hampus Lindholm. Coyle hooked against Lars Eller, and Lindholm interefered with Anthony Mantha.
Nikolas Backstrom capitalized on the 2-man advantage for the Capitals and scored the first goal of the game. Backstrom was assisted by Marcus Johansson and Dmitry Orlov, and it was his 2nd goal of the season.
The 2nd goal was scored by Garnet Hathaway in the 2nd period after a turnover from Jakob Lauko, who was recalled from the Providence Bruins during the break. This was Hathaway’s 9th goal of the season for the Capitals.
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The Bruins tried to come back from the early 2-0 hole that they were digged in, but all they could get was one goal from Foligno despite some good opportunities to score that were not executed correctly.
The Ugly: Boston Bruins did not capitalize on Power Play
The Bruins power play unit had four chances to score, yet they did not score once on the man advantage.
The B’s had the first power-play in the 1st period when the Capitals had Erik Gustafsson was in the box for tripping Pasternak. That power-play turned into a 4-on-3 advantage after Marchand and Kuznetsov get into a scuffle after Marchand slashed Caps goaltender Darcy Kuemper, yet the Bruins didn’t capitalize on it.
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There were two other power-plays in the 3rd period that were crucial for the Bruins. The 1st was when Orlov was in the box for tripping David Krejci. Next there was the power play for Martin Feverhary boarding Taylor Hall in the final minute. If they scored on any of the chances, then the Bruins would’ve had a chance to win against the Caps.
The Boston Bruins will head out for a quick two-game road trip to Dallas and Nashville on Tuesday and Thursday before heading back to Boston for another two games against the Islanders and Senators.