Pluses, minuses for Bruins, Capitals

Each Wednesday throughout the regular season, Kevin Weekes will be offering his pluses and minuses for the teams competing in the NBCSN Wednesday Night Rivalry game in his Weekes on the Web blog. Weekes also will assist fans with three must-watch elements of the game.
The Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins are each coming off overtime wins on Monday. David Pastrnak scored twice, including the winner for Boston, which defeated the Florida Panthers 4-3 and has won three straight games. Marcus Johansson also scored twice and had the winner for the Capitals in a 3-2 victory against the Buffalo Sabres that ended a three-game losing streak.

This is a big game for each team. The Bruins are in third place in the Atlantic Division and have missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the past two seasons. The Capitals hold the first wild card spot into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference after winning the Presidents' Trophy last season.
It's the first game between the Bruins (15-10-1) and Capitals (14-7-3) this season. Washington has won the past six, and Boston will look to turn the tide at Verizon Center on Wednesday (8 p.m. E.T; NBCSN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV). Here's my breakdown of the game:

Bruins

Pluses: Tuukka Rask has been dominant. He's 14-4-1 and is second in the League in goals-against average (1.68), fourth in save percentage (.939), has three shutouts and is tied for first in wins. It's been a big bounce-back year for him, and he hasn't shown many blips on the radar thus far.
The Bruins' whole game starts with Tuukka being great and Claude Julien's defensive system in place. But it's not just that. They also play great off the rush and have been making plays in the offensive zone. Brad Marchand certainly isn't where he needs to be in terms of goals (seven, after a career-high 37 last season) but he certainly is in terms of points (22 in 26 games). David Krejci (17 points in 26 games) and Pastrnak (15 goals) have been amazing. The overtime goal Pastrnak scored Monday was one of the most creative 3-on-3 goals I've seen with him entering and re-entering the zone, so there's something to be said for that.
Rookie defenseman Brandon Carlo has looked really good paired with Zdeno Chara. He's playing big minutes and getting rave reviews from teammates including Dominic Moore, who told me how mature Carlo is for his age (20) and how professional he is.
Minuses: The Bruins are still learning to find the balance point between being as defensive as Julien wants them to be while still managing to score goals. Boston ranks fourth in goals-against per game (2.19) which coincides with their third-ranked penalty kill (86.4 percent). But the Bruins are tied for 23rd in goals per game (2.35), which hasn't been helped by their 27th-ranked power play (13.8 percent).
David Backes has seven goals and Moore has six, but Torey Krug (one), Jimmy Hayes (one), Matt Beleskey (two) and Ryan Spooner (three) have severely underachieved. They can't rely on their defense to carry them all season.

Capitals

Pluses: Johansson is quietly having a nice season. He has 11 goals, one fewer than team leader Alex Ovechkin. He's playing an honest game on both sides of the puck in all three zones and isn't chasing anything offensively but is still producing. He's one of many Capitals players who have the ability to take over a game at any given time. It's a huge plus to have more than one of those players.
Then there's Braden Holtby, last season's Vezina Trophy winner. He has a 2.14 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage and hasn't dropped off in 2016-17 following his award-winning 2015-16 season. He's one of the few Capitals who isn't underachieving.
Lastly, Washington is 9-4-0 at home, where the Capitals have played much better than they have on the road. In this kind of game, home ice could make all the difference.
Minuses: The Capitals haven't been nearly as consistent as they were last season, when they ran away with the Metropolitan Division and won the Presidents' Trophy. Part of the reason is because Evgeny Kuznetsov has 10 points in 24 games after he led the Capitals and finished tied for ninth in the League with 77 last season. Also Justin Williams (two goals), Andre Burakovsky (two goals), John Carlson (no goals), Matt Niskanen (no goals) aren't producing offense.
The Capitals are going to be measured on what they do in the playoffs, but they have to get to the playoffs first. They've got an outstanding team, but you can't overlook the current picture before you get to the bigger one.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH

1. How do the Bruins defend against Ovechkin? Boston has to take away the middle of the ice against Washington.
2. Can the Capitals get their defense more involved in the offense? Washington has three goals from its defenseman all season.
3. Who will win the goalie matchup? Holtby vs. Rask should be very entertaining.