“I really think this is the time when teams are starting to get together and play good hockey,” the veteran heart stated as his teammates headed for the bus. “It’s going to be tight at the end. Hopefully this will give us a good little boost.”
Coach Peter Laviolette had talked to his group about controlling the decibel degree, particularly as a result of the sellout crowd totally anticipated the house group to proceed a historic start. Boston entered Saturday because the NHL’s undisputed alpha with 39 wins and 83 factors after 51 video games, numbers which have the Bruins difficult for the very best file in league historical past. Instead, a raucous pregame crowd fell right into a uncommon hush early in the primary interval after Backstrom cleaned up a rebound on a five-on-three energy play to offer the Capitals a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“I’ve been in this building where they scored three goals in the first 10 minutes and the building is erupting, and it makes it that much more difficult place to play,” Laviolette stated. “The start was important.”
It was a tone-setting victory for the Capitals, who started the season’s second half in the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot after a 10-day layoff. (This win pushed the Capitals into the primary wild-card spot, one level in entrance of Pittsburgh, which performed late Saturday.) Washington caught a break by not dealing with Linus Ullmark — the Bruins’ prime goalie, who leads the NHL in wins and save proportion — however as a substitute 24-year-old backup Jeremy Swayman, who has been strong however not on Ullmark’s all-star degree.
The Bruins entered the afternoon second in targets and first in targets in opposition to, and so they had the league’s greatest penalty kill and a top-five energy play. Yet Washington offered a blueprint for the way it plans to make a postseason push: with bone-rattling physicality, structurally sound protection and opportunistic scoring. It began Saturday in the crease, with goaltender Darcy Kuemper making quite a few acrobatic saves early and his group defending him in entrance of the web.
After making a save in the primary, Kuemper withstood a swat at his pad by the Bruins’ Brad Marchand after the whistle had blown. That earned Marchand a fierce crosscheck to the again from Capitals heart Evgeny Kuznetsov. Marchand dropped to his knees and went flying throughout the ice. A number of sticks and gloves went up round him, and penalties had been doled out. Not lengthy after, the Capitals had an influence play that yielded the objective by Backstrom, who made it 1-0 at 6:28 of a penalty-filled interval.
Winger Garnet Hathaway prolonged the result in 2-0 at 11:40 of the second after capitalizing on a turnover and sending a wrister previous the shoulder of Swayman — with the puck nicking the crossbar on its method in — regardless of absorbing a crushing hit from Bruins defenseman Connor Clifton. Hathaway remained on his again on the ice and cracked a smile — he misplaced his mouthpiece on the play — as he pointed to the rafters in celebration.
“He played really well,” Laviolette stated. “His nose was dirty tonight. He had a big goal. You just found him the middle of everything.”
Kuemper used each device at his disposal on his strategy to 27 saves, at occasions needing each inch of his 6-foot-5, 215-pound body to maintain the Bruins at bay, which included totally extending his keep on with bat away a deflection by Patrice Bergeron with simply over six minutes left in the primary. Boston lastly solved Kuemper when Nick Foligno was left on their own in entrance and trimmed Boston’s deficit to at least one with 3:26 left in the second interval. But later, Kuemper used his blocker to bat away a knuckling puck from Hall throughout four-on-four play early in the third.
Marchand and Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin locked horns quite a few occasions, together with halfway by means of the third interval, when each had been whistled for penalties after a tussle. Boston was unable to capitalize — the Capitals helped Kuemper in entrance throughout four-on-four play, together with a key block by defenseman Nick Jensen — and even after Boston pulled Swayman (21 saves) late and had a six-on-four benefit over the ultimate 25 seconds, the Bruins didn’t have sufficient to tie it.
“It’s definitely go time for us. You can see that in the urgency in our play,” Kuemper stated. “It would have been disappointing to come into this building and not put in the effort we did.”
Here’s what else to know concerning the Capitals’ win:
Winger Tom Wilson and heart Nic Dowd remained out of the lineup with lower-body accidents. Both made progress this previous week, however neither practiced with the group. Wilson is listed as day-to-day, and Dowd stays on injured reserve. Washington has amassed 310 man-games missed, the second most in the NHL.
Their continued absences left Washington needing an additional ahead, so it recalled Aliaksei Protas from its American Hockey League affiliate Friday. Protas was a wholesome scratch Saturday, as was defenseman Alexander Alexeyev.
Backstrom, Johansson keep sizzling
After coming back from offseason hip resurfacing surgical procedure, Backstrom has discovered his groove and continued his offensive surge with a hard-fought rebound objective in the primary interval. It got here off an help by Marcus Johansson, who has some extent in 4 straight video games (one objective, three assists).
In his previous 4 video games, Backstrom has two targets, added an help and scored the shootout winner in opposition to Pittsburgh on Jan. 26.