Dowd, Capitals beat Bruins in Game 1
Deflection goal in OT wins it to put Boston in 0-1 hole
Nic Dowd deflected in T.J. Oshie’s shot from the blue line 4:41 into overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series.
The Capitals weathered the loss of starting goaltender Vitek Vanecek to a lower-body injury early on, with backup Craig Anderson making 21 saves without allowing an evenstrength goal.
Tom Wilson and Brendon Dillon also scored for the Capitals. Daniel Sprong and Anthony Mantha, making their playoff debuts, each had an assist.
Jake Debrusk and Nick Ritchie scored for Boston, and Tuukka Rask made 29 saves.
Wilson opened the scoring 6:22 into the game.
The Bruins’ Charlie Mcavoy broke his stick on a shot attempt, leading to a 3-on-2 Washington breakaway with Oshie at the center of it. After a few quick passes, Wilson roofed it over Rask’s far shoulder.
Boston answered with 6:50 left in the period when Curtis Lazar won an offensive-zone faceoff and chopped the puck behind him to Debrusk for a wrister that evaded Vanecek’s
lunge to the right.
Canucks 4, Oilers 1: Matthew Highmore scored twice in the third period to help Vancouver beat Edmonton. Travis Boyd and Bo Horvat also scored and Thatcher Demko made 31 saves. J.T. Miller added two assists. Adam Larsson scored for the Oilers in their regular-season finale. Mikko Koskinen made 37 saves. Edmonton will open the playoffs Wednesday at home against Winnipeg.
Avalanche: Nathan Mackinnon returned to the ice for practice Saturday and all signs point to him being back for Game 1 against the Blues.