San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
DOWD SCORES IN OVERTIME AS CAPITALS BEAT BOSTON
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 at home in Game 1 of the firstround playoff series.
The Capitals weathered the loss of starting goaltender Vitek Vanecek to a lowerbody injury early on, with backup Craig Anderson making 21 saves without allowing an even-strength 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. Boston’s 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.
The Bruins 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.
Vanecek hurt himself on the play and Anderson, who turns 40 on Friday, replaced him. He had not played a postseason game since 2017.
The 25 percent capacity crowd at Capital One Arena thought Alex Ovechkin put the Capitals ahead in the second period with a deflection goal off Dillon’s point shot.
Instead the goal was credited to Dillon after replay showed the puck bounced through traffic and off a Boston stick, but not off Ovechkin’s.
With Dmitry Orlov in the box for high-sticking, the Bruins converted on their third power-play chance of the night with 3:22 left in the
Capitals 3, Bruins 2 (OT)
second. David Pastrnak’s shot redirected off Ritchie’s skate and through Anderson’s legs, barely making it over the line before a defender came in to clear it.
Normally a right wing, Oshie played out of position as Washington’s third-line center with Evgeny Kuznetsov unavailable due to COVID-19 protocols. Oshie cashed in with two assists.
Oshie was a game-time decision due to a lower-body injury he sustained May 8 that caused him to miss the Capitals’ regular-season finale. He left the bench briefly during the first period before returning to the game.
Kings wrapup
Drew Doughty isn’t the only player on the Los Angeles Kings roster who was disappointed about the team’s disappointing run down the stretch.
But as they go into a third straight offseason missing the playoffs, the defenseman laid down a challenge to the entire organization.
“As a team, we need to be better and get better. That’s not just on the players,” he said.
Doughty went a step further, saying he wouldn’t be happy if the team decided to maintain the status quo and not make a big move before training camp started in
September.
Doughty is one of four players still on the roster from the team’s Stanley Cup runs in 2012 and 2014. The Kings have won only one postseason series since their last title.
Los Angeles goes into the offseason with a deep group of prospects and salary cap room, which is why some veterans have been vocal about taking the next step.
“With all this cap room, we’ve got to bring guys in. That’s it,” Doughty said. “There’s no point waiting for these prospects to develop when you’ve got guys in their prime, that are hungry to win and sick of losing.”
Notable
Canucks 4, Oilers 1: Matthew Highmore scored twice in the third period to help visiting Vancouver beat Edmonton in a regular-season game. Travis Boyd and Bo Horvat also scored and San Diego native 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.
• Nathan Mackinnon of the Avalanche has returned to the ice for practice, and all signs point to him being back in the lineup for Game 1 of a first-round series against the Blues.