The Caps celebrate after the game ends. (Caps Outsider)
The Capitals concluded their five-game homestead with a visit from the Boston Bruins on Sunday. Washington came into this having lost the past two games to opponents that were playing their second of back to back games. But the Caps responded to their prior poor performances, as Braden Holtby and the Caps shut out the Bruins by surviving four penalty kills and 32 shots on goal. The Bruins had entered the game having gone 8-1-1 in their past 10 games.
After an embarrassing loss to the Stars which featured little effort from the Caps, Barry Trotz decided to schedule a practice on Saturday which was supposed to be a day of rest. At the practice, Coach Trotz hoped to inspire his players to gain back their killer instinct, to leave everything out on the ice. It would appear that Trotz and a sense of urgency gave Washington exactly what they needed to succeed.
The Caps came into the first period with a purpose, controlling the game for over 10 minutes and peppering Tuukka Rask with shots from all over the ice. The scoring started 12 minutes and 43 seconds into the first period after Brad Marchand received a roughing penalty for taking Tom Wilson to the ice and delivering hits to the body. John Carlson scored his 11th of the season with a booming slapshot that beat Rask stick side. Nicklas Backstrom assisted on the goal and moved past Jacob Pivonko on the franchise all time assists leaderboard with his 419th of his career. The Cap came out of the period with 16 shots on goal and a one goal lead.
The Bruins picked up the pace in 2nd period and got a chance to even up the score after the Caps new comer Chris Conner got whistled for a highsticking penalty against Torey Krug, Conner’s second penalty of the night. But the Caps were able to kill off the penalty and stop the Bruins from gaining any momentum. Instead, the Caps were able to increase their lead at 6:13 in the 2nd period with a Nate Schmidt shot from the point that deflected off of Gregory Campbell. It was Nate Schmidt’s first goal of the season and Backstrom’s second assist of the night. Holtby stayed in his zone and stopped all 14 shots from the Bruins.
The Caps were able to survive two Boston power play in the 3rd period and the final two minutes when the Bruins pulled Rask for the extra attacker. In the end, the Capitals out shot the Bruins 38-32 and out hit them 33 to 31. Holtby recorded his 8th shut out of the season and earned his 33rd win of the season. This was a well deserved win for the Caps and one that came from team working together. The power play unit was 1/1, the penalty kill was 4/4, the team as a whole had 38 SOG, there were 26 blocked shots, and Holtby was perfect in net. Hopefully, this win will give the Caps confidence in their remaining games so the team can finish the season strong. Washington will take a trip to Buffalo to faceoff against the tanking Sabres tomorrow night at 7 pm on NBCSN.
