BSJ Game Report: Capitals 5, Bruins 3 -- Holtby, Caps continue to own B's

Everything you need to know from the Bruins' loss to Washington at TD Garden in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis.

HEADLINES

Tough foe: The Bruins haven’t had the best of luck against the Capitals. Boston entered Thursday night's game 0-8-2 in its previous 10 games against Washington, so the Bruins wanted to set the tempo early and bring a level of physicality. Again, they chased the game and couldn’t keep up for the majority of the night. Not that Bruce Cassidy wants to make an excuse, but the Bruins played the second of a back-to-back and arrived home at 3 a.m. from Detroit. Basically, the Bruins, who have been fundamentally sound defensively of late, had too many miscues and Washington took advantage of those opportunities.

Shutdown: Individually, Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby has the Bruins’ number. He’s 13-2-0 in 15 career games against Boston and that streak continued tonight as he finished with 34 saves. The Bruins didn’t do a good enough job of getting traffic in front of him and limiting his vision. When Boston did create good looks, a few pucks rang off the crossbar and posts.

Still cooking: David Pastrnak had an assist tonight to extend his point streak to 10 games. He has five goals and seven assists for 12 points in that span.

https://twitter.com/mkmolnar/status/941477910363459584

TURNING POINT

The Bruins were trailing 3-1 when the Capitals’ Alex Chiasson scored a shorthanded goal at 11:31 of the third period. It was crucial because Boston’s power play has been productive of late and had it capitalized on the man-advantage at that point, it could have served as the shot in the arm the Bruins had been looking for all game.

https://twitter.com/Capitals/status/941495685643493376

THREE UP

Patrice Bergeron: Scored two goals and now has seven points in his last six games. With his first goal, a power-play tally at 4:22 of the second period, Bergeron passed Bobby Orr with 265 goals as a Bruin. Overall, Bergeron has seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points in 24 games this season.

https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/941485431853604866

Matt Grzelcyk: The rookie defenseman is earning his minutes and playing well. Even though he got turned around on Jakub Vrana’s goal at 17:34 of the first period, Grzelcyk is doing so many things right that he should remain in the lineup once Adam McQuaid returns.

https://twitter.com/Capitals/status/941493035883532289

David Krejci: Just when it looks like the veteran forward, who has been dealing with back issues all season, is a step behind, he’ll still find a way to get on the score sheet. He redirected Charlie McAvoy’s shot past Holtby at 16:20 of the third period. It was Krejci’s fifth goal of the season.

https://twitter.com/CaseyBake16/status/941497852605403136

THREE DOWN

Brandon Carlo: It was one of those games again for the second-year defenseman. He had a few costly turnovers and a couple of defensive miscues that the Capitals took advantage of. He had been playing a lot more consistent of late. When McQuaid returns to the lineup soon, maybe Cassidy would consider having Carlo watch from press level for a game or two in order to regroup. That would mean reuniting Torey Krug and McQuaid as a pair.

Anders Bjork: The rookie forward is starting to feel the effects of the NHL season. He’s not shooting enough. He’s getting pushed off pucks. When he does have the puck, he’s holding onto it too long and he needs to do a better job with his puck management.

Charlie McAvoy: It’s not often you’ll find the rookie defenseman in this category. But, for the second time this season, the Capitals have put him in his place. He was losing puck battles and getting turned around during one-on-one situations.

NOT ON THE SCORE SHEET

Smooth: Grzelcyk does so many of the little things well, but his ability to pick the puck off the kick plate at a high rate of speed and then make a play is pretty impressive. With 7:50 remaining in the first period, he jumped into the forecheck and was able to control a rimmed puck off the half wall and quickly make a tape-to-tape pass to Bergeron, who was camped out in front all alone but couldn’t handle the puck. If Bergeron had scored, it could have changed the momentum in the game since it was scoreless.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT

Anton Khudobin: “When the black cat crosses the road, it’s just a black cat across the road.

UP NEXT

The Bruins will host the New York Rangers 5 p.m. Saturday at TD Garden.