Wilson leads way in 2nd straight win
BOSTON — Tom Wilson held up his stick with a wide smile, opening his arms for the goal-celebration circle that was about to form. Four players had arms around each other’s backs when Chandler Stephenson approached, wiping out as he skated toward his teammates to give the group something else to grin about.
The Capitals beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2, for Washington’s first two-game winning streak since the first two games of the season. With new faces in the lineup and injuries taking their toll, this campaign has gotten off to a rocky start, but the Capitals are starting to show signs that they are rounding into form.
On Saturday night, it was two goals from Wilson — his first two of the season — that gave Washington (7-6-1) a boost. It was his second goal that was the most timely, arriving in the midst of a Bruins push with the Capitals desperately clinging to a one-goal lead. Defenseman Brooks Orpik fired a puck at the net, and Wilson tipped it up and past Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask with 1:10 left in the second period.
Less than a minute into the third, Orpik was given a double minor for high sticking, putting the Capitals’ penalty kill on the ice for the first time all game. It was a test for a unit that has struggled this season, and Washington passed, allowing just two shots on goal in four minutes. The Capitals had three shots shorthanded, including two from Wilson as he nearly recorded the first hat trick of his career.
After Wilson was called for tripping in the last four minutes of the game, David Pastrnak scored his second goal of the game for the Bruins with 2:32 left to cut the lead to one. But Boston couldn’t complete its push thanks to an excellent performance by Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby, who finished with 31 saves.
Washington expected more production out of Wilson this season, his fifth since being drafted in the first round in 2012. He has never scored more than seven goals in a season, but after the Capitals lost 60 goals of production with the departure of three forwards this summer, coach Barry Trotz said he wanted to see Wilson score double-digit goals for the first time. After he was suspended for the first four games of the season for an illegal hit during the preseason, Wilson went nine games without scoring, the last of the Capitals’ healthy forwards still scoreless entering Saturday night’s game.
Wilson opened the scoring with an odd-angle shot from the goal line 7:01 into the game, extending a hot stretch for Washington’s third line. TV: SATURDAY’S RESULTS Vegas 5, OTTAWA 4 TAMPA BAY 5, Columbus 4 (SO) Colorado 5,
PHILADELPHIA 4 Montreal 5, WINNIPEG 4 (OT) Washington 3, BOSTON 2 N.Y. Rangers 5, FLORIDA 4 (OT) ST. LOUIS 6, Toronto 4 MINNESOTA 0, Chicago 2 DALLAS 5, Buffalo 1 Carolina at Arizona, late Pittsburgh
at Vancouver, late Nashville at
Los Angeles, late Anaheim at San Jose, late SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE Detroit at Edmonton, 4 Colorado at N.Y. Islanders, 6 Montreal at Chicago, 7 New Jersey at Calgary, 9 MONDAY’S SCHEDULE Minnesota at Boston, 7 Vegas at Toronto, 7 Columbus at N.Y. Rangers, 7 Arizona at Washington, 7 Winnipeg at Dallas, 8:30 Detroit at Vancouver, 10 TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE Washington at Buffalo, 7 St. Louis at New Jersey, 7 Edmonton at N.Y. Islanders, 7 Arizona at Pittsburgh, 7 Florida at Carolina, 7 Nashville at Columbus, 7 Vegas at Montreal, 7:30 Vancouver at Calgary, 9 Los Angeles at Anaheim, 10 FRIDAY’S RESULTS EDMONTON 6, New Jersey 3 Nashville 5, ANAHEIM 3
Lagace 4th Knights goalie to earn win
Maxime Lagace made 24 saves for his first NHL victory Saturday and the Golden Knights had three power-play goals in a 5-4 win over the Senators in Ottawa.
Lagace became the fourth Golden Knights goalie to get a win this season. He joins Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion), Malcolm Subban (lower-body injury) and Oscar Dansk. Dansk also is injured, so backing up Lagace is 19-year-old Dylan Ferguson, who has a 4.05 GAA and .878 save percentage in 13 games in the Western Hockey League.
Lagace, 24, lost his first three games with the Golden Knights. He was 2-2-0 this season for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. posted his first two goals of the season, also scored and the Capitals continued their recent success against the Bruins with a 3-2 victory in Boston. The Capitals have won the last 10 meetings against the Bruins, including two in overtime . ... scored twice, including the winner in OT, to lift the Rangers over the host Panthers 5-4.