The Bruins traveled to DC with 1st place on the line in this COVID shortened season. Even though Holtby is now in Vancouver, the B’s still can’t get it done and fall to the Caps in OT.
David Pastrnak (as did Karson Kuhlman) made his season debut in the loss and recorded 1 point. Kuhlman made most of his impact in the 2nd period when he found himself stapled to the bench and was seen handing out water bottles and orange slices.
Rask was in net and played solidly on the pucks he could see. Unfortunately when the Bruins weren’t screening him themselves, they didn’t feel the need to clear the front of the net. “If you try to block a shot, you have to block the fucking shot!” I’ve heard that from every single goalie I’ve ever played in front of, and I guarantee that Zboril has heard it too. Tough play by the youngster, but hopefully one he learns from.
Up front, with Pasta back and The Erection Line at max flex: Krecji was with Ritchie and Smith and Bjork was back on the 4th. Frederic once again made his presence felt all 200 feet and even asked Wilson for a go. Got to give it to him; since the B’s won’t see Reaves and the Vegas Golden Knights until playoffs, Freddy tried to get his first tilt with the heavyweight runner up.
Cliffy Hockey was in again for Grzelcyk (another LBI, wtf) and the D showed a lot of jump. The days of Claude’s D to D and up off the glass are long gone. Excellent pace throughout their own end and into the neutral zone led to a dominant opening period with a shot margin of 19-7 in favor of the B’s.
Ritchie got credit for last touch on a triple deflection PP goal in the 2nd to make it 3-1. With Gryz out, Cassidy put out a PP1 unit with 5 forwards and the gamble paid off. Marchand closed the gap to 1 off a nice feed from McAvoy in the 3rd. Coming off an icing, Cassidy put out the Bergeron line with McAvoy and Zboril and it paid off. Between that matchup on the icing and reshuffling the PP units, Cassidy showed why coaching matters.
The B’s pulled Rask in the final minutes to tie it up and McAvoy did so with less than a minute remaining. Lowkey smart/sneaky play by Krecji with the goalie pulled. Krecji’s stick exploded into kindling and he tied up the closest Caps player to keep the man advantage for the Bruins. Could’ve been called interference, could of been called for not dropping the broken stick; instead it was called tie game and a savvy veteran move.
In OT the Bruins didn’t even get a chance as Washington controlled the puck and Ovechkin beat Rask with a wrister from above the face-off dot. And once again like the sun rises in the east; the Bruins can’t beat the Caps.
Plus/Minus:
(Bergeron had 3A but won’t get in the plus mentions because he’s that fucking good)
Plus
- pace of play: holy shit : bottle that 1st period and keep it with the smelling salts
- Anders Bjork turned in another game where he was noticeable in all situations
- Charlie Coyle is a beast on the puck
Minus
- we’ve already talked about the screens
- can’t take time off during the game. The B’s were dominant in the first and then coasted for big portions of the 2nd
- weird seeing Chara in that red sweater, wishing Big Zee nothing but the best
The Morning Skate 