Losing streak now stands at nine games.
The Boston Bruins battled back, but came up short, falling 4-3 to the Washington Capitals at the TD Garden on Tuesday night.
With the loss, the Bruins are now on a nine-game losing streak.
“The guys are trying to get a win here,” Interim head coach Joe Sacco said. Despite his team’s loss, he felt the effort was there and gave credit to the team to first battle back down two goals to tie the game in the second and then not get discouraged when the Capitals regained a two-goal lead in the third.
“That’s the attitude that we have to have right now,” Sacco said. “Regardless of what happens, we are going to play hard right until the very end.”
The Bruins found themselves in a two-goal hole after the first period as the team couldn’t generate offense and the Capitals’ special teams got to work.
The period was scoreless until the Bruins went on the man advantage. For the Capitals, Nic Dowd scored shorthanded. Two minutes later, Alex Ovechkin would notch No. 891 on the power play.
The Bruins were able to bounce back in the second period, outshooting Washington in the frame and making it a 2-2 game after 40 minutes.
Vinni Lettieri responded picking up a pass in the slot and beating goaltender Charlie Lindgren to cut the Bruins’ deficit to one goal early in the second.
Providence call-up Jeffrey Viel later dropped the gloves with Dylan McIlrath and there was some new energy in the building.
David Pastrnak tied the game tipping in a Morgan Geekie blast and the Bruins headed to locker room with the score evened at 2-2.
In the best period of hockey from both teams, the Capitals ended up extended their lead midway through the third period as Strome found the back of the net capitalizing in the slot. Tom Wilson further extended Washington’ lead with a deflection past Swayman.
Pastrnak answered back with his second goal of the night, but the Bruins would ultimately drop their first home game back after a long road trip.
Here are the game’s highlights:
First period:
Just 10 seconds into the Bruins’ power play, Nic Dowd sent a wrist shot top shelf over Jeremy Swayman’s glove from the left-wing circle at 13:32 of the first period, giving the Capitals the lead with a shorthanded goal. 1-0 Capitals.
Alex Ovechkin was left unattended at the backdoor where he put the puck into a wide-open net, scoring career goal No. 891, at 15:43 of the first period on the power play. 2-0 Capitals.
Second period:
Vinni Lettieri beat Charlie Lindgren’s blocker after he picks up the pass in the slot left by Marat Khusnutdinov at 6:05 of the second period. 2-1 game.
David Pastrnak skated into the slot to tap in Morgan Geekie’s one-timer on the power play at 17:12 of the second period. 2-2 game.
Third period:
Aliaksei Protas shot bounced off the end boards out front to Dylan Strome who quickly collected the puck and put a low shot past Swayman at 10:37 of the third period. 3-2 Capitals.
On a 2-on-1, Pierre-Luc Dubois tried to send a pass over to Tom Wilson. The pass hit Mason Lohrei and then deflected off Wilson and into the net at 14:46 of the third period. 4-2 Capitals.
Moments later, Pastrnak answered back with his second of the night. After receiving a pass from Morgan Geekie, Pastrnak curled up high to and through the right-wing circle where he let a wrist shot fly past Lindgren’s glove at 15:13 of the third period.
Final score: 4-3 Capitals.
Game notes
- “The last two games there have been positives, but we put ourselves in a position where we play behind and we can’t afford it,” Pastrnak said postgame.
- There’s no denying it was a rough start for the Bruins tonight with only four shots on net in the first and down 2-0 after the first. Postgame, Pastrnak felt the team’s rough start began with him taking a penalty on the power play and a shorthanded goal. But he liked that his team had fight to get back in the game. “We were right there going into the third,” Pastrnak said.
- The Bruins’ power play which has struggled all season, had a really nice goal stemming from the work of Morgan Geekie. Pastrnak said it’s been incredible to see him progress this season and become an asset to the power play. Pastrnak talked about how Geekie can see plays like that and take shots that will benefit the power play.
- Well, he didn’t score five goals to break the record, but Ovechkin did get No. 891 tonight. He’s now just four away from passing Wayne Gretzky in career goals. We can always look back and say one of the last ones needed was in Boston…silver lining right?
- Fabian Lysell was a healthy scratch tonight. “You saw the game out there right,” Sacco responded postgame when asked why he wasn’t in the lineup. “Tonight was more of a lineup decision based on the opponent,” Sacco said. He added it’s only one game he missed and that Lysell will draw back in at some point.
- This is the B’s longest losing streak of the season. The Bruins already had two separate, five-game losing streaks before this.
- Ryan Leonard made his NHL debut tonight for the Capitals. The Massachusetts native and Boston College forward had his teammates along the glass when he took his rookie lap. Leonard said things didn’t really sink in until that moment.
- The Bruins will hit the road on Thursday to face the Montreal Canadiens for a 7 p.m. puck drop.