BSJ Game Report: Capitals 2, Bruins 1 — B's can't capitalize against Caps, fall to No. 4 seed

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 2-1 loss to the Capitals in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES: 

B's fall to No. 4 seed, will play No. 6 Carolina in next round: 

Despite a ugly start to round-robin play, the Bruins could have salvaged their showing so far up in Toronto with two points against the Capitals on Sunday afternoon — a move that would have leapfrogged Boston over Washington in the standings and secured the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.

But rather than setting themselves up for a favorable matchup against the No. 7 Islanders, the slumping B's will now have a much harder road through the playoffs, as Boston once again failed to deliver in what was ultimately a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Washington on Sunday.

With the loss, Boston officially caps off round-robin play with a 0-3-0 record, bumping the Presidents' Trophy winners from the top spot in the East to the No. 4 seed — with Bruce Cassidy's club now set to battle No. 6 Carolina in the true start of Stanley Cup Playoffs action.

Boston, who did not hold a lead once during its three round-robin losses to Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and Washington, managed to generate multiple looks against Washington in Sunday's matinee — holding a 12-3 edge in high-danger scoring chances during 5v5 play.

But, in what has been a recurring trend this week, those chances haven't led to goals, with Boston's lone tally coming by way of Jake DeBrusk with 9:30 to go in the third.

Rather than ease their way into the first round, the Bruins, with plenty of questions still unanswered, now step into games with real stakes — and with a pretty unforgiving first opponent in the Hurricanes. Not great.

Bruins scuttle opening period: The Bruins, in desperate need of a response entering Sunday’s matinee, had the Caps right where they wanted them through 20 minutes of play.

Entering the first intermission, the B’s held a decisive edge in terms of puck-possession numbers and shot attempts, with Boston leading Washington in:

Shot attempts (19-10)
Shots on goal (6-2)
Scoring chances (10-5)



Of course, the one thing that Boston trailed in? What matters most — the tallies on the scoreboard.



Ultimately, an encouraging start for Boston was completely negated in the closing minutes of the first, when T.J. Oshie buried one past Tuukka Rask on the Caps’ second shot of the game. 

Brutal. 

All it took was a couple of miscues to scuttle a strong start and put the Bruins behind the eight ball once again — with Zdeno Chara inexplicably failing to account for Oshie down low.  The Caps winger promptly snagged the loose biscuit down near the crease and knocked it home, with the B’s failing to open the scoring in any of their four games so far up in Toronto. 

While Wednesday’s loss to the Lightning saw Boston take a few steps in the right direction, Sunday’s showing saw said progress stagnate a bit, as the B's once again failed to capitalize again and again against Braden Holtby. 

Even though DeBrusk put Boston on the board, the contest was out of reach by that point, as Tom Wilson potted the eventual game winner just 2:49 into the final period of play.

ONE UP: 

Jake DeBrusk: If there was any player in need of getting off the schneid in this one, it'd have to be DeBrusk — who has been a ghost for most of Phase 4 so far. Even though he was still dormant for a number of stretches against Washington, he did finally break through in the third, knocking a puck past Holtby off a feed from Ondrej Kase. For the first time in a long time, that second line finally showed some signs of life.

THREE DOWN:

Zdeno Chara: Phase 4 has not been very kind to Chara — who, for an extended stretch now, is starting to look his age out there on the ice. While the B’s captain has struggled at times against faster opponents in Tampa and Philly, his gaffe in the closing seconds of the first period was inexcusable. Along with not knocking that puck out of danger, Chara somehow did not pick up Oshie right next to him at the crease, with the 5-foot-11 forward outmuscling the defenseman and burying the Caps’ opening goal. Absolutely brutal. 

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1292502860282896385

Nick Ritchie: For as much as the puck-possession metrics favored the Bjork-Coyle-Ritchie line on Sunday, those extended O-zone numbers don’t mean squat if you don’t bury them — and man, was this a whiff by Ritchie here. I just don’t know how you don’t score this. 

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1292514299169116160

Power play: While the Bergeron line could be knocked here for failing to generate a goal despite an absurd 84.00% shot share, we'll focus on the power play from this contest, which closed out round-robin play with zero tallies on nine bids. Boston didn't challenge the Caps' PK all too often in this one, landing just one shot on net in four minutes of 5v4 play.

PLAY OF THE GAME: 

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1292526346976006149

PARTING THOUGHTS: David Pastrnak ... or Carnac the Magnificent? Boston's top scorer might want to stop it with the predictions.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1292522546911481856

https://twitter.com/Capitals/status/1292523454646771712

LOOKING AHEAD: With the round robin now in the rearview mirror, the Bruins will move on to the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs — with a rematch set against the No. 6 Hurricanes. Starting dates are TBD, with the NHL likely making an announcement following Sunday night's Toronto-Columbus matchup.