Back to back successful afternoon matchups against playoff teams Capitals beat Bruins

Back-to-back successful afternoon matchups against playoff teams: Capitals beat Bruins 4-2

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The Washington Capitals were back on the ice less than 24 hours after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Could they snag a win against a better-rested Boston Bruins roster?

John Carlson opened the scoring in the second before two goals in quick succession from Curtis Lazar and Erik Haula gave the Bruins a mid-game lead. Tom Wilson jammed home a rebound to tie the game at two. Lars Eller netted the puck and it took a nasty distraction to defeat Linus Ullmark and put the Caps ahead in the third period.

Alex Ovechkin empty cuter! I like this.

The Capitals beat the Bruins 4-2!

  • Equal opportunities in the middle first third. Both Vitek Vanecek and Linus Ullmark were very good early on as we went goalless in the first twenty minutes. Two bad penalties by Nic Dowd and Dmitry Orlov.
  • I’ve seen more talk about golf than hockey on those national break shows. If I wanted to hear about the Masters every four seconds, I would watch them. Besides, golf sucks. I won’t hear any arguments.
  • I have no idea why this type of planning is allowed. The Caps finished their game against the Pens in Pittsburgh about 18 hours before the puck dropped in DC. That’s exactly how guys get hurt, and it’s not like they haven’t had some weird multi-day breaks lately that could have been filled with a game to avoid this clash. However, national TV play money always comes before player safety in the NHL.
  • Second period was much less good. The Bruins had a fair amount of pucks and the Caps really didn’t test Ullmark outside of the shift where Tom Wilson took a rebound chance. Coming right out of the frame at two was a welcome sight.
  • Markus Johanson gotta get the puck really deep into neutral in front of Erik Haula’s goal. I don’t know why he tried to extend the shift with a touch pass to TJ Oshie instead. Johansson was a great cap when he was young, but man… I’m pretty skeptical about his value right now.
  • Not the best work by Vitek Vanecek on both goals in the second. He was pulled out of his skates by Nick Foligno and lost his crease at the Lazar gate. He was then hit by a deep slap from Haula where he looked out of the corner leaving the other side way too open. Just a reminder that both he and Ilya Samsonov are Restricted Free Agents after this season. Difficult to say that both deserve a long-term contract.
  • Tom Wilson came on with his 23rd goal of the season. This is his new singles season, career high and also his 50th point, which is the first time in his career he has reached that mark. He’s been great lately.
  • Back-to-back really, really good third periods. This one even better considering how tired they must have been.
  • Trent Frederic is like Brad Marchand sucks at hockey.
  • The referees certainly chose a side in this game. Four straight power plays for the Bruins. One of them stared straight at Conor Sheary, who stumbled two feet in front of him, and just let it go. I really made friends with the home audience. By the way, Don Koharski was an NHL referee.

The Flyers are in town next Tuesday. They’re awful and play a bunch of guys I’ve never heard of. The Caps should win.

Headline photo courtesy of @pennybacker/RMNB Crasher