The Boston Bruins reminded everyone that the first-round playoff series against Washington would be a long one. Boston rallied from a 3-2 deficit late in the third period to get a much-needed 4-3 win in overtime over the Capitals to tie the best of seven series up at one game each.
The two teams will head to Boston for games three and four starting Wednesday night.
“We knew they were going to come back with a little more bite offensively,” head coach Peter Laviolette said after the game. “We kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little bit with execution, so I think there are things we can do better as we head to Boston.”
The Bruins peppered goalie Craig Anderson with 48 shots Monday night, compared with just 26 in Game 1.
Early on, Washington looked like the more aggressive team, dominating play in the game’s first five minutes. Were it not for some excellent saves from Bruins goalie Tukka Rask, Washington could have been up a goal early in the first period. However, despite the start, the Bruins scored first as Charlie Coyle was able to get Anderson out of position and feed Jake DeBrusk for an easy goal at the 5:05 mark to give Boston a 1-0 lead.
Washington tied the score less than two minutes later. With the Capitals on the power play, Alex Ovechkin launched a slap shot towards the goal where T.J. Oshie deflected the puck past Rask to tie the score at 1-1.
The score would see-saw the rest of the night. The Bruins retook the lead at the 9:21 mark on a goal from Patrice Bergeron. However, the Capitals struck back with consecutive goals from Garnett Hathaway at the 16:42 mark in the first period and again in the second at the 7:04 mark.
“I think we started off playing how we wanted to,” Hathaway said. “They got the first goal, but I don’t think that’s exactly how the game was going. I thought we had a lot of momentum. I thought we were controlling the play.”
Hathaway’s line with Carl Hagelin and Nic Dowd continued its strong play from the regular season.
“That line has been solid,” Laviolette said. “We haven’t touched that line the entire year. I think they played a really good game, they’re hard to play against. They’re capable of chipping offense just through their hard work, their speed, their tenacity. It’s nice when you can get contributions from a line that usually starts in the defensive zone and takes on tough opponents.”
Injuries became an even more significant concern as center Lars Eller left the game with a lower-body injury in the third period. Playing with a third-string goaltender and without center Evgeny Kuznetsov, an already patched-together lineup was forced to reshuffle its pieces.
“When Lars went out, that threw a wrinkle. I thought we adjusted kept battling had the lead with just under three minutes and just couldn’t get it done,” Laviolette said.
With less than three minutes left in the third period, the Bruins tied the game as Taylor Hall was able to chip the puck past Anderson amidst a pileup in front of the net. The game went to overtime, but just 39 seconds after it started, Marchand ended it with the game-winning goal.
“I think they got a couple more pucks through, and I’m sure that was their game plan,” said Hathaway. “I thought Andy played great, and I thought we played well, but we didn’t play well enough.”
Laviolette said Eller would be evaluated today. He will also have to decide on whether Kuznetsov is ready to play after landing on the covid protocol list for the second time this season.