With just one game to go in the regular season, there’s one thing that’s becoming clear for the Bruins. The Washington Capitals would not be a fun playoff opponent for them.
The B’s had a chance to clinch the Atlantic Division title on Monday at Capital One Arena, but for the second time this season the Caps blanked the B’s, 2-0, on a strong defensive effort.
Goalie Charlie Lindgren came up with some good saves and John Carlson’s first period goal stood up as the game-winner, but the Caps limited the B’s to just 16 shots on net. When they beat the B’s 3-0 on February 10 at the Garden, the Caps allowed just 18 shots. When the Caps play their game, they can be stifling.
The B’s will have one last chance to capture the division in the season finale against Ottawa at the Garden on Tuesday.
The B’s also lost Brandon Carlo to an undisclosed injury for the third period. There was no immediate word on his condition.
The Capitals came into the game with their playoff lives hanging on a string. They held the second wild card spot due to the regulation win tiebreaker, though they were in a points tie with the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers to start the night.
As one might expect, the Caps’ intensity level to start the game was a couple of notches above the Bruins’ and they took a 1-0 lead in the first 20 minutes. They were quicker to pucks while the B’s were making unforced errors trying to break out of their zone. Though the stat crew in Capital One Arena may have missed a shot or two, the B’s were not credited with their first shot on net until 11:40.
Not long after that shot, the Caps took a 1-0 lead at 12:00. Tom Wilson won a loose puck out high in the Boston and headed to the net. From there he provided a screen so John Carlson’s slap shot from the high slot could get past Jeremy Swayman.
The B’s were fortunate not to be down two going into the first intermission. In the waning seconds of the period, Wilson bore down on Kevin Shattenkirk and managed to flip the puck into Swayman’s pads. The puck came out to Beck Malenstyn, who would have had a half empty net if he’d gone to his backhander. Instead, he took a quick shot that went between Andrew Peeke’s legs but Swayman was able to get a pad on it to keep the B’s within a goal.
There was no scoring in the second, but not for a lack of chances – and Swayman made a couple of excellent stops. The first one came on an Aliaksei Protas spin-o-rama from the slot but the best stop came on a 2-on-1 with Protas feeding Wilson for what looked like a sure goal, but Swayman went post-to-post to make the stop.
While the Caps were clearly the better team through two periods, the B’s got a couple of great chances of their own that were thwarted by Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren. First the B’s made a terrific rush play that resulted in a clean look for Jakub Lauko in the slot that gobbled up. Shortly after that, Morgan Geekie made a great play, stealing the puck at the Washington blue line and sending a backhand pass to an open David Pastrnak in the right wing. Pastrnak tried to go shortside, but Lindgren blockered it aside.
But those kind of chances were few and far between for the B’s, who were being outshot, 22-8, through 40 minutes.
The B’s pulled Swayman with 2:42 left in the game and the Caps had numerous chances to end but they could not until Nic Dowd picked Brad Marchand’s pocket and scored into the empty net with 11 seconds left.
