In a game that turned chippy in a hurry, the Boston Bruins took advantage of a Tom Wilson five-minute major-penalty in the second period to take control of the game in route to a 5-1 win Friday night at TD
Gardens over the Washington Capitals.
The loss drops the Caps (13-6-4) into second place in the MassMutual East Division behind the New York Islanders.
The Bruins took a 1-0 lead into the period after Brad Marchand scored at 14:21 of the first to give Boston a lead they would never give up.
Then Wilson checked Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo into the glass. The hit was high, and Carlo never returned to the game. It took a little more than six minutes into the second for Boston to exact some revenge.
Jared Tinordi dropped the gloves with Wilson at the 6:12 mark of the second, and both players were given five-minute fighting penalties.
Trent Frederic scored 30 seconds later to make the score 2-0. The Bruins followed with goals from Patrice Bergeron and Marchand’s second of the game to make it 4-0.
Capitals goalie Vitek Vanecek was pulled for Ilya Samsonov.
“There was a period of the second period where we made some mistakes, and it seemed like they take advantage of it, they score a couple of goals there, and since then we struggle to find our game back,” said forward Jakob Vrana.
Vrana would score the Caps’ only goal of the game late in the third period, his eighth of the season.
Head Coach Peter Laviolette said the game’s physical nature was a deciding factor, as were Washington’s defensive lapses.
“We knew it was going to be physical. We hear what’s coming out of their locker room,” he said. “You knew it was going to be a more competitive game. I think where we got outdone tonight is from a defensive standpoint there was just too many quality chances, too many backdoor tap ins and back door plays where we could have done something better defensively where our goaltenders had no chance for what went on.”
Of the Wilson hit that started the Bruins run, Laviolette defended Wilson, saying he did not feel it was within the rules.
“His feet were on the ice, and he stayed down with everything. Just looked like a hard hit in the corner. Not exactly sure what happened, but to me, it looked like just a hit,” Laviolette said.
The lone bright spot for Washington was Nickals Backstom, who recorded his 700th career assist on Vrana’s goal.
“Obviously, I said I was going to enjoy it, and here we are losing 5-1, yeah, not now,” Backstrom said. “That’s tough when you lose a game like this.”
Washington travels to Philadelphia for a Sunday game with the Flyers. Points are crucial as just five separates first place in the division from fifth.