Alex Ovechkin beats Bruins in OT

The Bruins made a terrific comeback to secure a point on Saturday night against the Washington Capitals — but that was all they could manage in an entertaining game that lived up t0 its advance billing.

Alex Ovechkin scored on a bullet of a long-range wrister to beat Tuukka Rask 28 seconds into overtime and lift the Caps to a 4-3 victory at Capital One Arena.

The B’s roared back from a 3-0 deficit, getting the tying goal with 57 seconds left in regulation and Rask pulled for an extra skater. After David Krejci’s stick broke on a slapshot attempt, Charlie McAvoy eventually controlled the loose puck and scored his first of the season

The B’s started their comeback bid late in the second period. First Nick Ritchie got the B’s on the board in the second period with a power-play goal. And at 6:03 of the third period, they took advantage of a Washington icing to pull within a goal. McAvoy controlled a faceoff win, took it behind the net and fed Brad Marchand, who buried it over goalie Vitek Vanecek’s blocker.

The B’s got a PP shortly after Marchand’s goal but could not cash in, nor could they convert a later man-advantage chance, as the B’s had a four-game win streak snapped.

The game contained story lines galore. It was the first time the Bruins played their former captain Zdeno Chara. David Pastrnak was making his season debut after offseason hip surgery. Pastrnak’s co-Rocket Richard winner from a year ago, Alex Ovechkin, was returning after receiving a league-mandated timeout for COVID-19 protocol violations. And it was an early season matchup for control of first place in the ultra-competitive East Division.

The pace to start the game was hellacious. The first TV timeout is usually around the 7:00 mark, but after a couple of early time stoppages, the game did not get its first break until the 12:14 mark.

Though the B’s were all over the Caps in the first period, outshooting them 19-7, they wound up trailing 1-0 going into the first intermission.

Vanecek did his best impression of Braden Holtby, the former Caps goalie who had given the B’s fits for years. First, he made a great recovery off a bad bounce off a stanchion behind the net to rob Krejci. A little later, Vanecek got his pads down just in time to stop a Marchand shot along the ice from the slot.

With the exception of scoring a goal, everything was going the Bruins’ way until Nicklas Backstrom scored at 18:06. Jeremy Lauzon tried to keep a puck in at the left point but Tom Wilson bulled it out of the zone. Patrice Bergeron tried to corral the puck and reload, but he couldn’t gather it. He instead turned to play defense on Backstrom and tried to poke it away at the blue line. He was nearly successful but Backstrom, though both feet were in the zone before the puck, was able to maintain possession and eventually he ripped a high wrister that beat Rask over the glove arm.

That was a good shot that beat Rask, playing his first game since suffering a lower body injury on Tuesday. The next goal he gave up he never saw.

At the start of the period, the B’s had 45 seconds left in a power-play and they created a couple of terrific chance but could not put it away.

The Caps then took a 2-0 lead at 5:22. With Wilson battling with Jakub Zboril about 10 feet from the net, Trevor van Riemsdyk snapped a knee-high wrist shot that Rask never picked up and it beat him to the shortside.

The next goal was similar. After Krejci took an offensive zone hooking call with which he vociferously disagreed, the Caps’ deadly power-play cashed in. Wilson’s shot deflected off Richard Panik to beat Rask to make it 3-0.

Shortly after that goal, Trent Frederic delivered a heavy hit to Wilson and appeared to challenge the Caps’ heavyweight, but the veteran was not eager to give the rookie an opportunity to change momentum.

But the B’s finally got one back on a late power-play. A Krejci slapper was deflected out high by a Washington stick and it bounced off Ritchie for his fourth of the season, all of which have come on the power-play.

The Bruins again outshot the Caps, 15-10 in the second, but they were still in a two-goal hole going into the third.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/36sBGzY