The Washington Capitals fell to the Boston Bruins 6-3 on Sunday afternoon. One week after dominating the Bruins, this was a different Bruins team as key players were back from injury plus the addition of Taylor Hall at the trade deadline. This matchup could be the first round matchup in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Despite the loss, the Caps are still in first place in the MassMutual East Division with a 29-13-4 record for 62 points. That’s two points ahead of the New York Islanders, who they’ll see for the next three games. It’s also three points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and six ahead of the Bruins.
The Caps will get some much needed rest before the Islanders series. They get three days off like a mini all star break/bye week and they need the rest. These games against the Islanders will be big including two games on Long Island and the finale in D.C. in front of Caps fans for the first time.
This game was a physical contest that included 35 penalty minutes, two double minors and one major. Tuukka Rask played out of his mind with 30 saves on 33 shots. He wasn’t available in the last meeting as the Caps routed the Bruins 8-1 with Dan Vladar in net. Rask even robbed Alex Ovechkin on the breakaway to preserve the lead and keep the game from turning.
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The Caps also couldn’t stop the Bruins top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak as they combined for four goals and five assists including two from Bergeron and Marchand.
After beating the Flyers the day before, the Caps needed this loss and their loss to the lowly Buffalo Sabres for a wake up call. Now that they got it and a couple days rest, they should be primed and ready to go. These next 10 games, the final 10 of the regular season, will determine which playoff position the Caps are jockeying for.
Tom Wilson knows the importance of these final 10 games and believes this team will regroup in time for the grind ahead. Via Andrew Gillis of NBC Sports Washington:
"“Yeah I think we would have liked to have this one. With that being said we will have some time to regroup. It’s been a lot of hockey in a short period of time and that wears on you physically and mentally so I think it will be important for the guys to get a bit of a break. Call it our mini all-star break here and we will have 10 games or so left.”"
Wilson would later add:
"“We will amp it up, we will pony up for the big stuff. That’s the exciting time of year so I think guys will get what they need out of these next couple days and just come back to the rink ready to go.”"
After a couple days off, the Caps will be back in action against the Islanders which should be must see TV. The Caps are still upset from their first round exit last year and would love to get some form of revenge on their former coach’s team. You can’t win every game, but I think we’ll see a much different Caps team on Thursday.