BOSTON — Darcy Kuemper had simply lined up one other puck, denying his opponent on one other scoring probability, earlier than the Boston Bruins’ Brad Marchand got here barreling into the Washington Capitals goaltender’s crease within the first interval Saturday at TD Backyard. Lengthy often called one of many league’s relentless agitators, Marchand actually lived as much as his repute by swatting at Kuemper’s pad after the whistle had blown.
Washington
Caps shut down NHL-best Bruins to open season’s second half in style
That earned Marchand a fierce crosscheck to the again from Capitals heart Evgeny Kuznetsov. Marchand dropped to his knees and went flying throughout the ice. Just a few sticks and gloves went up round him, and penalties had been doled out. However Washington wasn’t going to be rattled by the NHL’s greatest crew Saturday, and that scrum not solely solidified that message — it will definitely led to an influence play that yielded an early purpose by Nicklas Backstrom.
Washington performed with that swagger all afternoon in its shocking 2-1 win. The Capitals defeated the league’s greatest crew in entrance of a sellout crowd that had seen the Bruins lose in regulation simply as soon as all season.
It was a tone-setting victory for the Capitals, who started the season’s second half within the Jap Convention’s second wild-card spot after a 10-day layoff. (This win pushed the Capitals into the primary wild-card spot, one level in entrance of Pittsburgh, which performed late Saturday.) Washington caught a break by dealing with not Linus Ullmark — the Bruins’ prime goalie, who leads the NHL in wins and save proportion — however as a substitute 24-year-old backup Jeremy Swayman, who has been strong however not on Ullmark’s all-star degree.
Boston entered Saturday because the NHL’s undisputed alpha with 39 wins and 83 factors after 51 video games, numbers which have the Bruins difficult for the perfect common season document in league historical past. The Bruins got here in second in targets and first in targets towards, they usually had the league’s greatest penalty kill and a top-five energy play. But the Capitals dictated the play early and sometimes.
Backstrom made it 1-0 on a five-on-three at 6:28 of a penalty-filled first interval, and winger Garnet Hathaway prolonged the result in 2-0 at 11:40 of the second after capitalizing on a turnover and sending a wrister previous the shoulder of Swayman — with the puck nicking the crossbar on its manner in — regardless of absorbing a crushing hit from Bruins defenseman Connor Clifton. Hathaway remained on his again on the ice and cracked a smile — he misplaced his mouthpiece on the play — as he pointed to the rafters in celebration.
That lead remained in tact after Kuemper made an acrobatic save to rob Marchand a couple of minutes later. Kuemper used each instrument at his disposal Saturday on his solution to 27 saves, at instances needing each inch of his 6-foot-5, 215-pound body to maintain the Bruins at bay. It began early. Boston’s David Krejci had a breakaway within the first interval, however Kuemper turned away his wrister. Kuemper denied Taylor Corridor on a rebound probability a couple of moments later after which used his follow bat away a deflection by Patrice Bergeron with simply over six minutes left within the first.
Boston lastly solved Kuemper within the second, when Nick Foligno was left on their own in entrance and trimmed Boston’s deficit to at least one with 3:26 left within the interval. However later, Kuemper used his blocker to bat away a knuckling puck from Corridor throughout four-on-four play early within the third interval.
Marchand and Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin locked horns quite a few instances, together with halfway by the third interval, when each had been whistled for penalties after a tussle. However Boston was unable to capitalize — the Capitals helped Kuemper in entrance in the course of the four-on-four, together with a block by defenseman Nick Jensen — and even after Boston pulled Swayman (21 saves) late and had a six-on-four benefit over the ultimate 25 seconds, the Bruins didn’t have sufficient to tie it.
Right here’s what else to know concerning the Capitals’ win:
Winger Tom Wilson and heart Nic Dowd remained out of the lineup with lower-body accidents. Each made progress this previous week, however neither practiced with the crew. Wilson is listed as day-to-day, and Dowd stays on injured reserve. Washington has amassed 310 man-games missed, the second most within the NHL.
Their continued absences left Washington needing an additional ahead, so it recalled Aliaksei Protas from its American Hockey League affiliate Friday. Protas was a wholesome scratch Saturday, as was defenseman Alexander Alexeyev.
Backstrom, Johansson keep scorching
After coming back from offseason hip resurfacing surgical procedure, Backstrom has discovered his groove and continued his offensive surge with a hard-fought rebound purpose within the first interval Saturday. It got here off an help by Marcus Johansson, who has some extent in 4 straight video games (one purpose, three assists).
In his previous 4 video games, Backstrom has two targets, added an help and scored the shootout winner towards Pittsburgh on Jan. 26.