Bruins Grab Point in Shootout Loss to Caps

(Photo: Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire)

Really unsure what has happened with the Boston Bruins since their win against the Philadelphia Flyers in their NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe game. While they managed to get the win in Sunday’s matinee against the New York Rangers, their performance overall through the last few games has been questionable most of the time and lackluster during many periods.

With Zdeno Chara’s return to TD Garden on Wednesday night with the Washington Capitals it would be expected that there might have been some extra energy. Perhaps the late scratch of Charlie Coyle and a shuffling of lines played into it but the opening twenty minutes was as unimpressive as possible for the Bruins. They didn’t register their first shot on Vivek Vanecek until 15:28.

It looked like the Capitals had scored at 10:21, off a shot by T.J. Oshie, but Boston dodged a bullet. They challenged for offsides and the call went their way. It was difficult to tell, as the television replays were inconclusive, but it is known that there are additional camera angles for the linesmen and referees for challenges. One might have thought that this would have sparked the Bruins to step up their game, but it took them another 5:07 before they got that first shot on net.

Charlie McAvoy took an interference penalty 2:23 into the opener and David Krejci, in his first game back, was whistled for tripping at 14:19. Krejci’s penalty was negated at 14:56 when Alexander Ovechkin got sent off for interference. It was while the teams were playing four-on-four that the Bruins found their first shot on net. With just 11 seconds remaining on the clock, Richard Panik earned the third interference penalty of that period giving the Bruins a power play that carried into the second.

While the Bruins were unable to convert on the carryover power play, over all their second period play had a lot more tempo. What stood out through the middle period was how both teams were defensive and determined to keep shots from making it to their respective goaltenders. Boston did pick up their pace in the shot department as they were able to collect seven by the end of the period while limiting the Capitals to just four despite a couple of instances where Washington hemmed the Bruins in their own end.

The hits continued to mount as the game went on. By the end of the second period the Capitals had registered 25 hits while the Bruins had 21. The teams just steamed north and south throughout the second with most trips to one end or the other punctuated by the thump of bodies against boards.

The third period saw David Pastrnak put the Bruins on the scoreboard 1:19 into the final twenty, with an assist by Brad Marchand in a move they do so well. Unfortunately for Boston, a turnover by Sean Kuraly allowed the Washington Capitals to keep the puck in the Bruins’ end and then Oshie sent the puck across the rink along the blue line to Nick Jensen, who put it on Tuukka Rask. Rask let up a rebound that Panik dished to Lars Eller who put it in to the left of Rask. The tying goal came almost exactly five minutes after Pastrnak’s marker.

Unlike the second period, there was not nearly as many hits by the teams in the third. The Bruins added five to their total while the Capitals added just three. This lack of physicality is likely what opened up the scoring chances in the first place. However, that didn’t mean there wasn’t a bit of nastiness. Trent Frederic had been trying to get under Ovechkin’s skin most of the game, and with less than six minutes remaining in regulation he cross-checked Ovechkin. Ovechkin took exception and slashed Frederic in the family jewels. Frederic certainly felt that. They both ended up in the box for two minutes.

Sixty minutes wasn’t enough to declare a winner, and nothing was decided in the three-on-three overtime. It came down to a shootout in which Vanecek stood tall against Jake DeBrusk, Pastrnak and Marchand, while at the other end Rask was unable to deny Jakub Vrana who shot first for Washington, though he did shut the door on Oshie.

While Boston grabbed a point—a point that they likely stole given their play throughout much of the game—the most memorable moment of the game came during a TV time out. The Bruins shared a tribute video of Chara that clearly moved him. He certainly meant a lot to Boston and it was definitely difficult to see him on the Garden ice in something other than a Bruins sweater.