The Washington Capitals dug themselves in a hole and by the time they stepped it up it was too late.
The Washington Capitals fell flat to the Boston Bruins in a 7-3 blowout. They failed to sweep the Bruins but still took two out of the three games in the season series. Should these teams meet in the playoffs it will be more entertaining than what we saw Monday night.
The Capitals lost to the Bruins for just the second time in their last 18 meetings. It took until Super Bowl Sunday last season when the Bruins finally defeated Braden Holtby and the Capitals.
The Capitals played their worst period of the season allowing a four spot to the Bruins that they simply couldn’t answer. Two of those four came on the power play as the Caps were unable to stay out of the box.
More from Capitals News
- Breaking down the Rookie Camp roster
- Hear what Magic Johnson said about Alex Ovechkin
- Capitals announce Rookie Camp schedule
- Breaking down the 2023-24 Capitals national TV schedule
- Capitals Alumni Weekend is coming back
The Bruins got their first power play 90 seconds in when Nick Jensen was whistled for high sticking. The Capitals killed off the penalty but went back to the kill at 5:28 when Radko Gudas was called for hooking. Jake DeBrusk scored nine seconds later for the Bruins first tally of the night.
Brad Marchand doubled that lead at 13:29 before Anders Bjork scored 27 seconds later. Patrice Bergeron added another on the man advantage at 18:57 to give the Bruins a 4-0 lead. They outshot the Capitals 11-8.
Charlie Coyle made it 5-0 with a goal coming shorthanded at 6:55. Alex Ovechkin finally got the Caps on the board at 14:35.
Tom Wilson had a good look in front of the net but missed both his shots. Nevertheless Ovechkin was there to snipe home his 23rd goal of the season at 14:35 to get the Caps on the board.
Late in the third at 15:29 Lars Eller netted his eighth goal of the year on the power play, deflecting in a shot from Jakub Vrana. The Caps then pulled Holtby for an extra attacker looking to inch closer. The Bruins responded with an empty net goal from David Krejci.
The Caps got a goal back at 17:47 from Garnet Hathaway as he charged down the ice before beating Tuukka Rask short sided. The Bruins put the nail in the coffin with an empty netter from Bergeron.
The Capitals actually outshot the Bruins by a lot, a combined 34-6 over the final two periods. In the end they had three goals to show for it and the first period made all the difference.