Still unable to Capital-ize
Solid effort can’t end drought
Calling anything a “curse” in sports is a cliche, mostly. When two teams match up in an even setting, such as any professional league, there’s essentially an equal chance of either team winning.
CAPITALS BRUINS 4 2
It’s hard to think of the recent Bruins and Capitals saga as anything but a curse. After falling behind twice by a goal, the Bruins got the equalizer each time, but the game stayed tied for a total of just 1 minute, 48 seconds before the Capitals retook the lead again. Between pucks jumping over sticks, a massive gap on shots on goals between the teams, and arguably the worst goal Jaroslav Halak has surrendered as a Bruin, all the evidence of a curse were in effect in the Bruins 4-2 loss to the Capitals on Thursday. “I thought we certainly gave ourselves a chance to win the game,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It didn’t happen again against this team, so have to get over that hurdle. But a lot of nights, that’s good enough for points. But not tonight.” While not striking on their first four power plays didn’t help, the Bruins didn’t suffer from a lack of chances. They pounced at open shots and produced offense all night. “It seemed like every time we did get a goal, they scored right after,” Brad Marchand said. “Tough to win when you do that. … We usually could win that game, their goalie made a lot of good saves.” Being forced to chase the game had the Bruins behind the 8-ball from the start. Jakub Vrana snuck underneath John Moore and Torey Krug and got past the blueline for a breakaway and put the Capitals up 1-0 just 6:38 into the contest. The Capitals’ one-goal advantage didn’t tell much of a story of how the game started. The Bruins outshot Washington at one point 19-5, and finished with a 41-21 advantage. The Bruins continued to generate chances, but as per usual over the past 14 games with Washington, the puck didn’t bounce their way. Jake DeBrusk had a puck hop over his stick while posted up at the crease, and Chris Wagner fired wide twisting around to take a shot in the slot. Ryan Donato, with plenty of time and space coming in from the right faceoff dot, wristed a rocket past Braden Holtby to make it a tie game with 5:49 left in the middle frame. Per tradition, it would appear, it didn’t last long. Alex Ovechkin had an equally open shot, and needed just 39 seconds to put Washington back ahead, 2-1 late in the second period. The Bruins earned a second-period power play when Marchand didn’t drop the gloves in Lars Eller’s attempt at a rematch from opening night. On their fifth man advantage, they finally struck. David Krejci blasted a shot through the Caps defense, with an assist from Eller screening Holtby, to tie the game 4:37 into the third. That deadlock, at least, lasted for more than a minute. Niklas Backstrom dumped the puck on net and it edged past Halak’s glove hand to put the Capitals back ahead 3-2 at the 5:46 mark. While the Bruins still outchanced the Capitals throughout the third, Washington did get a few opportunities. Nic Dowd clanked a shot off the post and the Caps had one stretch in which four skaters had a chance to get the puck on net. Ovechkin also was stopped, slotting the puck right in Halak’s glove along the side of the net. Moments after Halak was pulled, the Capitals iced the game on a long-range Ovechkin empty net goal with 1:35 to go. “It starts with defending well, that’s a very good offensive team, and we did that for the most part,” Cassidy said. “We gave up some quality chances but there wasn’t a lot of quantity. Obviously another save, a difference-making play in the game, we get that save it’s 2-2, we come down, who knows how long it goes? It could have made a difference.” With the five-game win streak now behind them, the Bruins head to Toronto on Saturday night.