Bruins fall to Capitals in tough 3-1 loss

Steve Conroy, Boston Herald on Dec 31, 2024

Published in Hockey

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Good starts are imperative for the Bruins if they want to compete against teams like the Washington Capitals. They got one on Tuesday, but they could not keep the foot on the accelerator for the full 60 minutes. And it cost them.

The B’s came flying out of the gate in Washington and took the lead early. But they lost it before the end of the first period was out and the body-sacrificing Caps would not let them get the equalizer. The result was a frustrating 3-1 loss in a New Year’s Eve matinee to start a tough three-game road trip that will take them to New York and Toronto.

The B’s made a good push in the third but could not even the game before the Caps ended it with a late empty-net goal.

It was a tight, hard-fought game that was ultimately decided on special teams. The Caps went 1 for 2 on the power-play, which was Jakob Chychrun’s game-winner, while the B’s PP woes continued, going 0 for 2 showing little urgency in their two second period advantages.

In the end, the B’s were done in by something everyone knew would crop up from time to time — just not enough goal scorers.

“We had some opportunities to even the score, especially in the third period,” coach Joe Sacco told NESN. “I thought we had a real good first period. We came out ready to play and then all of a sudden we’re behind 2-1 when they scored on the power play at the end of the first period. I still liked our game at that point. Second period, I thought they played better. We got away from our game, started to play east-west. Third period, I liked our push, we just just weren’t able to capitalize.”

The Bruins were both good and lucky for much of the first period but yet they came away with a 2-1 deficit after 20 minutes.

The fortunate part came just 1:21 into the game. From the red line, Parker Wotherspoon fired the puck into the corner and Caps’ goalie Logan Thompson (26 saves) started to come out to play it behind the net. But the puck hit a stanchion and then bounced off the pads of Thompson, who never got out of his crease. It caromed straight to the forechecking Justin Brazeau, who scored on the put-back for his ninth of the year.

The B’s had their skating and forechecking legs in the early going and were forcing turnovers in the Washington zone, but either Thompson came up with the save or the B’s just couldn’t get the puck on the net. The Caps did a good job of getting in front of pucks (28 blocks).

“Obviously, they’re a good team. They clog up the inside so you just try to get pucks through and get things to the net and hope for a bounce to go your way. They just didn’t go our way,” Brazeau told reporters in Washington.

Eventually, the Caps got their own game going a bit and they tied it up at 12:05. In the Washington zone, Brandon Carlo’s D-to-D pass to Mason Lohrei was a bit off and Lohrei had to scramble to keep it in. Lohrei didn’t get deep and the Caps took off on a 3-on-2. Still, the B’s appeared to have thwarted that rush, but Carlo and Mark Kastelic couldn’t come up with a loose puck below the goal line. Pierre-Luc DuBois did, and he fed Aliaksei Protas out front for the equalizer.

The B’s then took the first penalty of the game when Kastelic’s stick rode up and clipped Martin Fehervary. Just 15 seconds later, Chychrun beat Jeremy Swayman on a sizzling short-side wrister at 17:11.

Nikita Zadorov had missed most of the first period after it appeared he caught the skate blade of Tom Wilson on the back of the leg just 19 seconds into the game but, after getting stitched up, he returned before the period was out.

The game remained 2-1 through 40 minutes, though the B’s had two power-play chances, thanks to two sell jobs by Elias Lindholm and Brad Marchand.

But given the opportunities, the B’s never had an attack mentality on the advantages, especially on the second one when the Caps forced them to play more in their own instead of Washington’s.

“We obviously need to execute better, whether it’s our breakouts, or in-zone. We need to get tighter to the net as a group, too,” said Sacco of the struggling PP. “I feel like right now we’re too far from the net. That’s something we have to focus on.”

The Caps held a 20-16 shot advantage through two periods. The B’s were playing OK to that point, but they needed more urgency around the net if they wanted to pull this out.

Though they still had trouble getting pucks to Thompson, they had some chances. The best one was when David Pastrnak fed Morgan Geekie for a redirection at the side of the net but Geekie whiffed on the puck.

The B’s pushed furiously with Swayman pulled for the extra skater but they just could not get another one by Thompson. Finally, with 16 seconds to go, Lindholm lost an offensive zone draw and Protas ended it with an empty-netter.

In the end, a good effort went for naught, and those are tough losses to take in the ever-tightening Atlantic Division race.