Capitals Down Bruins for Third Straight Win

The Washington Capitals defeated the Boston Bruins 4-2 Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena. The Capitals have now won three straight games and continue to chase third place in the Metropolitan division.

It was all Bruins up until about halfway through the first period when the Capitals recorded their first shot on goal. After a few solid saves from Vitek Vanecek, Trent Frederic thought he gave his team the lead, but was disallowed for a distinct kicking motion. The Capitals took three penalties in the opening frame, but the period ended at no score. Shots after one were 8-7 in favor of the Bruins.

It was John Carlson who opened the scoring at 4:11 of the second period. A hard slapshot from from the top of the right circle gave the home team the advantage. Carlson’s 14th goal of the year now leaves him one goal shy of tying his career high in goals. Conor Sheary had the lone assist on the play.

The Bruins responded heavily with two goals in the span of 60 seconds shortly after the Carlson marker. Curtis Lazar tied the game at the 7:55 mark, with Erik Haula giving Boston the lead exactly one minute later.

With just over 5 minutes to play in the second period, Tom Wilson marked a new career high in goals, potting his 23rd of the season. After an initial save by Linus Ullmark, Wilson banged home the rebound five hole and squared the game at two apiece. Lars Eller and Anthony Mantha recorded assists on the play.

There were no penalties in the period with the Bruins outshooting the Capitals 16-11 in the middle frame.

The Capitals had a flurry of high quality chances in the third period, but it was a lucky deflection off of Bruins forward Erik Haula to give the Capitals the lead and what ended up being the game winner. After throwing the puck in front of the net, Lars Eller was credited with his 10th goal of the season, with Nick Jensen picking up the assist. Jensen is now one point away from tying his career high in points.

Alex Ovechkin sealed the game with an empty net goal with 2 seconds left. Ovi’s 45th of the season was assisted by Evgeny Kuznetsov and Carlson. The Capitals had a dominant third period, outshooting the Bruins 15-6. Final shots in the game finished 33-30 for the Capitals.

It was a high energy and a high hitting affair Sunday with 84 hits combined, as both teams will get set to try and make deep playoff runs. Ovechkin recorded 7 hits and 6 shots, while Vanecek made 28 saves, good for his 17th win of the season. Both teams failed to score on the man advantage, with the Bruins going 0-4 while the Capitals went 0-2. It was the final meeting between the two teams this regular season.

The Capitals improved to 40-22-10 on the season, good for 90 points and 4th place in the Metropolitan division. Ovechkin and company will aim for four wins in a row Tuesday night, as they take on the Philadelphia Flyers in the Nation’s Capital. The game will start at 7:00 p.m. est.