Final: Bruins 3, Capitals 1 - Pastrnak puts up three points, Swayman stops 34 of 35 shots

The Boston Bruins win their first game of the season with a 3-1 victory against the Washington Capitals.

With a new head coach behind the bench and a revamped roster, Boston's great play on special teams, along with star performances from Jeremy Swayman and David Pastrnak, helped them get the win.

It was a slow start for both teams to start the game. Both sides combined for 10 shots on goal in the first period, and both sides had opportunities to score on the power play.

Through the first half of the game, the Bruins struggled to stay out of the box. They received four penalties through the first 25 minutes of the game, including a five-on-three penalty kill to start the second period. Despite this, Swayman kept the Capitals scoreless with help from Tanner Jeannot and Michael Eyssimont. 

Midway into the second period, the Bruins scored the first goal of the game. Pastrnak kept the puck on his stick in the offensive zone, and he floated a wrist shot near the blue line past Logan Thompson to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. 

The Bruins and Swayman continued to leave the Capitals scoreless going into the third period, but the Capitals finally got one the board in the third period. In the slot, Tom Wilson found the puck on his stick after the Bruins broke up a pass, and he sniped a high shot past Swayman to tie the game.

However, this tie didn't last long. Five minutes after Washington's goal, the Bruins went on the man advantage, and a nice breakout play from Boston's first power play unit lead to an Elias Lindholm backhand goal.

For the rest of the game, the Bruins shut down the Capitals defensively. Washington pulled their goalie with a couple minutes left in the game, and Morgan Geekie picked up the empty net goal to seal the win for Boston.

Overall, it was a great opening night win for the Bruins. Last year, this team failed to win games due to their struggles on special teams, but tonight was different. All three forwards on Boston's top line picked up a goal, and the bottom six including Swayman blanked Washington when they went on the power play.

The Bruins will now travel back home to play the Chicago Blackhawks tomorrow at 7 p.m.

______________________

WHO: Bruins (0-0-0) at Capitals (0-0-0)
WHEN: 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Capital One Arena, Washington D.C.
TV: NESN
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub

LIVE BOX SCORE

PROJECTED LINES

Boston

Geekie - E. Lindholm - Pastrnak

Zacha - Mittlestadt - Arvidsson

Jeannot - Minten - Eyssimont

Khusnutdinov - Kuraly - Kastelic

Lohrei - McAvoy

H. Lindholm - Peeke

Zadorov - Jokiharju

Swayman

Korpisalo

Washington

Ovechkin - Strome - Protas

McMichael - Dubois - Wilson

Beauvillier - Lapierre - Leonard

Duhaime - Dowd - Sourdif 

 Fehervary - Carlson

Chychrun - Van Riemsdyk

Sandin - Roy

Thompson

PREGAME NOTES

The Boston Bruins take on the Washington Capitals to begin the 2025-2026 NHL season.

David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm are named assistant captains for this season. Both Marco Sturm and Don Sweeney stated over the offseason that the Bruins aren't looking to name a captain now. Sturm said in June that he’d like to get to know the players before naming a captain.

The Bruins announced they will officially retire Chara’s number on Jan. 15, 2026.

Jeremy Swayman gets the start for opening night. Last year, Swayman wasn't available in Boston's opening night game against the Florida Panthers as he dealt with a contract dispute.