Capitals defeat Bruins 4-2

Alex Ovechkin scored two goals, and Nicklas Backstrom got the tiebreaker in the third period as the Washington Capitals defeated the host Boston Bruins 4-2 on Thursday night. The Capitals won their third in a row overall and their 14th straight over the Bruins. They also stopped the Bruins' five-game winning streak.

Ovechkin, who entered the night with a league-leading 30 goals, scored in the second period and added a long empty-net goal late. The Bruins kept the pressure on Washington offensively throughout the game. They held a 41-22 edge in shots, but the Capitals prevailed as goalie Braden Holtby made 39 saves and improved to 16-2-0 versus the Bruins in his career.

Boston goalie Jaroslav Halak finished with 18 stops. Washington took a 1-0 lead in the first period thanks to T.J. Oshie, who got the first of his two assists, and Jakub Vrana. Oshie corralled a puck in the defensive zone, saw his teammate sneak behind the Boston defense, made a perfect pass that sprung Vrana for a breakaway, and he scored at 6:38. Boston tied it with 5:49 left in the second period thanks to a Ryan Donato goal. Torey Krug fed him in the right circle, and Donato sent a wrist shot past Holtby. That tie lasted just 39 seconds thanks to Tom Wilson and Ovechkin. Wilson got a loose puck behind the net and just to Halak's right.

The right wing then fired off a quick pass to Ovechkin in front, and his wrist shot beat Halak for a 2-1 lead. But the Capitals took a bench minor early in the third period for having too many men on the ice, and the Bruins scored a power-play goal that tied it. David Krejci ripped a slap shot past Holtby from the right circle at 4:37. Washington then took a 3-2 lead, again answering quickly thanks to Backstrom. Again, Oshie made the pass that gave Backstrom open ice, and the center scored on a long shot that got past Halak's glove 5:46 into the period. Ovechkin then added the empty net goal, which went from in front of Holtby all the way up the ice, for the 4-2 final.