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Washington Capitals

Ovechkin Nets #891 vs Bruins

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Washington’s Alex Ovechkin scored his 891st career goal to move within four of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL record, helping the Washington Capitals defeat the host Boston Bruins 4-3 on Tuesday night.

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Washington scored twice in both the first and third periods en route to breaking a three-game skid (0-2-1). Goals from Nic Dowd and Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead. Boston came back to tie before Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson scored in the third.

David Pastrnak scored twice, Morgan Geekie had two assists and Vinni Lettieri also found the net for Boston, which has lost nine straight (0-8-1).

With Washington up 1-0, Ovechkin scored on the power play with 4:17 left in the first. John Carlson’s initial shot from the high slot took a deflection off the skate of Strome in front and right to Ovechkin, who settled the puck and scored it into an open side of the net.

 

Bruins Dominate Caps, Advance

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WASH DC – Boston’s Patrice Bergeron scored twice while high-scoring line-mate David Pastrnak added a goal and an assist while goal-keeper Tuukka Rask turned away 40 shots as the Bruins won their East Division first-round playoff series with a 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals in Game 5.

The Bruins won this series 4-1 and must now await to play the winner of the Pittsburgh-New York Islanders series in the second round. That series is deadlocked at 2-2, with Game 5 set for tonight in Pittsburgh.

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Rask was up to the task once again as Boston seemed content to play defense most of the time after it took the lead in the second period. Washington outshot the Bruins, 41-19, and Rask remained steady throughout.

The Washington power play was ineffective, once more, going 0-for-4 in this game and just 1-for-10 in the past two games when the club had a man advantage. Washington had problems finding good scoring chances against a Bruins’ defense that seemed to be faster than the Caps, which slowed the usually high-scoring team down throughout the series.

Pastrnak gave Boston a 1-0 lead 2:28 into the second period. He got the puck near the left boards in Washington’s end and made two slick moves — the first coming when he slid the puck between his legs — that beat two Capital defenders and put a quick shot past goalie Ilya Samsonov (16 saves).

Bergeron made it 2-0 later in the period after a Washington turnover near the blue line. Pastrnak pushed it to Mike Reilly, who fed Bergeron, and the forward ripped a hard shot past Samsonov with 5:55 left in the period.

Bruins Win in Double-OT, 3-2

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) –  Overtimes are us!

Boston’s Craig Smith took fast advantage of a momentary lapse of judgement by Washington’s reserve goalie Ilya Samsonov to deposit the game-winner 5:48 into the second overtime to lead the Bruins to victory over the Capitals, 3-2, in the key Game 3 of their East Division first-round series at TD Garden.

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Smith went behind the opposing net to pounce on a loose puck, then wrapped it around the left side of the goal before Samsonov could get back into position after he misplayed a puck behind his own goal.

Smith’s fortunate – right place, right time – goal gave the Bruins a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series.

Taylor Hall and Brad Marchand each had a goal for the Bruins, who kept their momentum rolling after a 4-3 overtime win on the road in Game 2. Goalkeeper Tuukka Rask made 35 saves for Boston.

Washington’s all-star Alex Ovechkin and Nic Dowd scored for the Capitals. Samsonov made his series debut in net after being activated from the COVID-19 list and he made 40 saves.

All three games in the series have been decided in overtime and each of the last 12 playoff games between the Caps and Bruins has been decided by one goal, extending the longest such streak in NHL history.

Game 4 is Friday night in Boston.

Can Bruins Bring “Ole Mo” Back Home?

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Services Report) – Boston forward Brad Marchand and his Bruins teammates will attempt to build on their momentum as their first-round series against the Washington Capitals shifts to TD Garden for Game 3 on Wednesday night.

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Marchand scored just 39 seconds into overtime to give the Bruins a 4-3 win at Washington on Monday night to even the best-of-seven series at 1-1. The Capitals were 3-2 overtime winners in Game 1 Saturday after Nic Dowd scored 4:41 into the extra period.

Through eight periods, the Bruins and Capitals have each scored six goals and Boston holds a narrow 74-71 advantage in shots on goal.

“Obviously, they’re hard games. They’re playing tough, they’re playing physical, and they’re not giving up a ton,” Marchand said. “It (was a) big one to win, but it doesn’t matter how good it feels. Game’s over and we’ve got to get prepared for the next one.”

Marchand’s winner was the fastest in overtime in franchise history, beating out the legendary Bobby Orr’s iconic leaping goal that finalized a sweep of the Stanley Cup Final against St. Louis on May 10, 1970, by one second.

Boston will needs its top line to show up like it did on Monday to take control of the series. After going scoreless in Game 1, the Bruins’ “perfection line” of Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak combined for three points in the win.

Capitals Defeat Bruins in Overtime

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WASH DC – Nic Dowd scored the winning goal to give the host Washington Capitals a 3-2 overtime win over the visiting Boston Bruins in Saturday’s Stanley Cup playoffs opener.

Tom Wilson and Brenden Dillon also scored for the Capitals, and back-up goaltender Craig Anderson stopped 21 of the 22 shots he faced after being forced into action midway through the first period due to an injury suffered by starting goalie Vitek Vanecek.

Jake DeBrusk and Nick Ritchie each scored for the Bruins while goal-keeper Tuukka Rask made 29 saves in the loss.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven East Division series will be Monday in Washington.

Anderson, who will celebrate his 40th birthday this week, saw his first playoff action since May 25, 2017 when he was the keeper for the Ottawa Senators. The veteran played in only four NHL games this season, in which he posted a 2-1-0 record with a 2.13 goals-against average and .915 save percentage.

Washington’s No. 1 goalie Ilya Samsonov was removed from the league’s COVID-19 protocol list on Saturday but didn’t play.

Wilson, who had a two-point game, opened the scoring by taking advantage of a bad break for Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, whose stick broke when he attempted a point shot. Wilson executed a give-and-go with Oshie on the resulting odd-man rush before he buried a shot from the left circle at the 6:22 mark.

Boston’s DeBrusk evened the score seven minutes later. After Curtis Lazar won the offensive-zone faceoff, pulling the puck back, DeBrusk quickly fired a long shot that eluded Vanecek as he did the splits and appeared to suffer a pulled groin muscle that forced him from the game.

Bruins Defeat Caps, 6-3

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BOSTON – Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci each scored a pair of goals and goaltender Tuukka Rask made 30 saves to lead Boston to a 6-3 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden.

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For the Caps, T.J. Oshie scored twice, and G Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves for Washington (29-13-4), which ended its three-game road winning streak.

Bergeron scored a shorthanded goal at 12:02 of the first period to give Boston a 1-0 lead, then Krejci made it 2-0 at the 13:56 mark.

Oshie scored with 10 seconds left to cut the lead to 2-1 after the first.

The game’s momentum swayed towards Washington when Bruins defenseman Connor Clifton was served with a double minor for high sticking, and Oshie scored his second goal at 3:48 of the second period to tie it 2-2, and Anthony Mantha scored at 4:54 to give Washington a 3-2 lead. Mantha has scored in each of his four game for Washington since he was acquired in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings.

Marchand, Krejci and Bergeron all tallied to provide Boston with a 5-3 lead until Marchand scored his second goal of the game into an empty net at 18:16 of the third period which closed out the scoring at 6-3, Bruins.