A Mess: Bruins beat Caps 6-3

A Mess: Bruins beat Caps 6-3

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In the game between the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins, far too much happened on Sunday afternoon. These two teams, who would play each other if the playoffs started today, played at an intense level after the season. But there was one big difference that we will discuss at the end of this review.

The Caps struggled early, with Patrice Bergeron scoring for the first time while the Browns were shot short. David Krecji made it 2-0 and the Caps struggled to get out of the zone. Shortly before the first break, TJ Oshie ended a series he started, and Nick Backstrom helped make it 2-1 after twenty minutes.

The Caps twice passed on a four-minute power play in the second period – one by TJ Oshie and one by Anthony Mantha. The Bruins responded with three more goals in the period: Marchand, Krecji and Bergeron, to make it 5-3 after two periods.

Brod Morchond has an empty netter in the third.

Caps lost.

  • The Washington Capitals lead the league with seven opposing short goals.
  • There was a lot of controversy at the end of the first period, when TJ Oshie scored. John Walton reports that you can indeed get your clothes tomorrow. Great relief.
  • Defender Justin Schultz left the game in the first period after this hit from Taylor Hall. The Caps played most of the game with five defenders.
  • The fourth line’s frustrating pattern of penalties for the offensive zone continues Garnet Hathaways relatively soft hold call. David Krecji scored shortly after the PP expired. Hathaway was later sent off for a flyhalf Jarred Tinordi. It was a bad decision by Hathaway to continue with a hit on a player in Tinordi’s position, despite Tinordi making him even more vulnerable at the last minute.
  • Anthony Mantha did something no other Caps player has ever done: scored a goal in his first four games with the team.
  • Connor Clifton committed two high penalties today (Eller and Sheary). Both drew blood.
  • John Carlson made a perhaps-unwise failure pinch before the second period of Bergeron goal, though you could argue that he expected the refs to name a terrific late hit by Charlie McAvoy.
  • Alex Ovechkin: no goals. He was very close to a couple in the third, but Tuukka Rask stopped him on a breakaway and again on the power play.
  • Tom Wilson made a penalty kick in the third period after Sean Kuraly fell into it. That fall had the stench of malice for Jarred Tinordi, who demanded a fight. Wilson did not give him the honor. NBC consulted for a few minutes on Wilson’s ‘malicious’ discussion and then went on to characterize it as a ‘hit of Wilson’. It was not. Wilson did nothing wrong there, and it comes from a vocal Wilson critic.

It was a (terrible) national broadcast, so Joe B.

Okay, so that was a scheduled loss. The restless Caps played the resting Bruins on the road. That’s the excuse.

But whatever happens before them, Washington’s goalkeepers should finally start saving north of 80 percent. The Caps are not getting the savings they need.

And against the same coin, the April 2021 Caps had the same problems with the opponent interruptions that the 2020 team had in the bubble when they had a different coach and a different team.

If you accumulate defective defense and defense interruptions, you will not always be able to overcome the deficit. I suppose this is what we saw today.

RMNB coverage of caps at Bruins

Screenshot thanks to NBC Sports

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