Bruins Drop Game 1 to Capitals in Overtime

WASHINGTON - The Bruins twice battled back to tie the game but struggled for most of the night to generate offensively and, ultimately, fell to the Washington Capitals, 3-2, in overtime on Saturday at Capital One Arena in Game 1 of their first-round series. Nic Dowd cashed in with the winner 4:41 into the extra session to give the Caps a 1-0 series lead.
"Well, we hung around, certainly," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "They were physical early on, so we battled through that. I, honestly, thought our top guys didn't seem to have it, couldn't find ice. Give Washington credit; couldn't escape pressure on the power play and find the open guys.
"I think a lot of those guys that have been doing a lot of scoring for us just weren't able to get to their game tonight or get the puck to cooperate or support each other well enough to generate enough offense. Other than that, it was not really typical of what we've seen lately from that group, so hopefully Game 2 they're a little sharper."

Boston's top two lines went without a point at even strength - David Pastrnak picked up a power-play assist on Nick Ritchie's second-period tally that tied the game at 2 - and had a difficult time getting inside and funneling pucks to the net. Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron combined for just one shot on goal, while the trio of Taylor Hall, David Krejci, and Craig Smith totaled just five shots between them.
"I think we can be on top of them more, with their D, keeping pucks alive on rims," said Cassidy. "I thought they were too easy to back out. I thought our forwards did do a great job of creating turnovers before the forecheck below the goal line. That's one area of our game I liked. If we can keep a few more alive with our D being on time...obviously, keeping them outside on the rush as opposed to pucks getting into the middle is something we'll look at.
"Our power play [which went 1 for 3], I thought, individually, we didn't do enough to get away from pressure and spin out of some situations where they're coming hard at us…as a result, we ended up working really, really hard just to get possession of it and get in the zone where, normally, we're a little better at breaking that with our individual skill. So those are probably the three areas we'll look at."
The Bruins were also unable to take advantage of an early goaltending change for the Capitals. After Jake DeBrusk scored to tie the game, 1-1, with 6:50 left in the first period, goaltender Vitek Vanecek was forced to leave after appearing to overextend while attempting to stop DeBrusk's shot. Craig Anderson subbed in and made 21 stops on 22 shots after having played just four times this season, including just one start since Feb. 21.
"We didn't generate nearly enough no matter who was in net," said Cassidy. "We had two odd-man rushes right out of the gate. I think Marchy and Pasta both passed them. We had good looks, good chances to score a goal, and usually when that happens it tells me we're overpassing, we're not maybe as dialed in as we need to be."

Getting the Bounces

The Capitals, on the other hand, were able to take advantage of some fortunate breaks on all three of their goals. Washington opened the scoring on a Tom Wilson snipe that came off an odd-man rush just after Charlie McAvoy snapped his stick on a shot at the Capitals blue line early in the first period. The Capitals took a 2-1 lead at 8:44 of the second when Brenden Dillion's bouncing point shot tumbled over the glove of Tuukka Rask.
And on the overtime winner, Washington, once again, beat Rask with a bouncing puck, this time off of Nic Dowd's tip of T.J. Oshie's one-timer from high in the slot. The deflection clanked off of Rask's chest and then trickled through the five-hole to clinch the Capitals Game 1 victory at 4:41 of the extra session.
"A one-time from the blue line. I think it was going over my head or at my head or something, then it hit a stick, hit my chest, and somehow ended up in the net," said Rask. "I think I probably bumped it into my own net. I didn't really see the replay.
"I think all the goals hit a stick. That's just how it goes sometimes. Goalies, in general, are really good in this league, so it's tough to beat them with a direct shot anyways. You're gonna have some screens and some deflections. They ended up having three of them. That's hockey. Tough luck on me."

Getting Physical

The Capitals came at the Bruins with plenty of thump in the early going, highlighted by a monstrous hit from Alex Ovechkin on David Krejci in the opening minutes that flattened the Boston center along the boards. Washington finished the night with 51 hits to Boston's 41.
"I mean, they were hard early," said Cassidy. "Krech got drilled by Ovechkin and he bounced back. We knew something was coming. I thought we responded as the game went along, we got our share of hits in. Kind of got physical to sort of match it. At the end of the day, it became more of a typical hockey game where you had to be harder on the puck and along the walls maybe than the physicalness of it. That's how I saw it."

DeBrusk Cashes In

Following a trying regular season, DeBrusk struck for Boston's first goal of the postseason with a far-side wrist shot by Vanecek off a Curtis Lazar faceoff win with 6:50 to go in the first period, tying the game at 1. It was his 15th career postseason goal.
"I think it actually went off of one of their guys [off the faceoff]. I just tried to shoot it as quick as I could," said DeBrusk. "I didn't know where I was shooting it. Just got it on net and saw it go in."