Dougie Hamilton earned his third of the season tonight instilling the Bruins a 3-0 lead for the second time this season. (photo credit: Steph Vail/ Flickr)
Tonight the Boston Bruins headed to the Capitol in hopes of bouncing back into the win column and exacting revenge on the Capitals after last season’s playoff elimination. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case and the Bruins blew a three-goal lead from the first period and dropped the ball in overtime.
The first period was exactly what was needed from the Bruins. They found themselves on the penalty kill with a hooking call from Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand, being one of the B’s best penalty killers, jumped at a shorthanded opportunity. In the process he was hooked and slashed by none other than Alex Ovechkin and was awarded a penalty shot. Marchand brought the puck in, deked left and waited for Holtby to commit and found a way to stuff the puck five-hole on Holtby for an early 1-0 lead.
Back pressure from Milan Lucic helped the Bruins score their next goal as he helped bring the puck up ice after a turnover and help break up a two-on-one opportunity for the Caps. He was able to bring the puck back into the offensive zone for the Bruins, find Chara who unleashed a slapshot a little high, hitting Krejci in the leg, and then banking in his own rebound for a 2-0 lead.
With 1:45 remaining in the period Alex Ovechkin was hauled off to the penalty box for a call that, honestly, shouldn’t have been made. Ovechkin placed a shoulder-to-shoulder hit on Chris Kelly in the neutral zone in front of the bench area a half second after Kelly released the puck and got called for interference. However, the Bruins stepped up to the plate and did what they had to do to get the job done. They used their cycling game to move the puck from the corner up to the point where Dougie Hamilton was waiting to unleash a shot. There was a slight screen in front of Holtby, just enough for him to not realize what was going on and give Hamilton his third of the season and the Bruins their second 3-goal lead of the season.
Through the next twenty minute frame a completely different game began to evolve as the Capitals fought their way back on the scoreboard and contained the Bruins. Ovechkin helped the Capitals score the first goal of the game with an initial shot that led to a scramble out in front to which Ribeiro was able to put past the netminder. Tomas Kundratek would score the second goal for his first of the season right off of the face off.
The third period provided a lot of opportunities for the Bruins and Capitals alike, but it would be the Caps insistence that would eventually put them up with a game-tying goal from Wojtek Wolski thanks to a pass from Fehr in the final minutes. The game-winning goal in overtime came from an off-balance Eric Fehr who was able to beat the defense and Rask and win the game for Washington in a similar fashion as the playoff loss last season.
The Bruins next game is Thursday against he Toronto Maple Leafs where they look to earn their eighth straight win and second of the season.
A Cup A Bruin 