Capitals drop final road game to Bruins

The Washington Capitals dropped a 5-2 defeat to the Boston Bruins last night in game 81 of 82. There’s now just one game left in the season. That comes tomorrow night against the New Jersey Devils at 7 p.m.

The win by the Bruins helped them set the NHL single season points record after winning a league record 64 games. The Bruins now have 133 points. Wow.

The first period was scoreless as the Bruins led in shots 12-7. The Bruins led in shots 12-9 in the second period and took over the game. Brad Marchand at 8:32 and Tyler Bertuzzi at 14:20 both struck on the power play. Nick Jensen got the Caps on the board with his fifth goal of the season at 15:27.

In the third period Tomas Nosek scored at 4:13. Tom Wilson got one back with his 12th goal of the season at 7:13 on the power play assisted by Dylan Strome and John Carlson.

Garnet Hathaway scored against his former team at 7:49. Jake DeBrusk capped off the scoring at 18:11. The Bruins led in shots 20-11 in the third period and 44-27 overall.

After Darcy Kuemper got the start the night before against the New York Islanders, the Capitals turned to Charlie Lindgren in goal against the Bruins. He made 33 saves before getting pulled for Kuemper who stopped six of seven shots. Lindgren actually left the game with an injury.

Lindgren on this sequence early in the third period made a stop with his bare hand. It caused Kuemper to scream “Oh my God” from the bench.

Tom Wilson spoke on Lindgren’s game:

“He’s a guy that takes a lot of pride in his game and never gives up on any puck. It’s rare you get a bit of a standing ovation from the away fans for him, but much deserving. He’s got no glove and he’s still throwing his body in the way. He battled great.”

If that’s the kind of effort he can give when the team has nothing to play for, I imagine his future being very bright here.