Capitals rally, hand Bruins fifth loss in six games

BOSTON --T.J. Oshie scored in the final minute of regulation, and the Washington Capitals rallied for a 3-2 shootout win against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday.

Oshie, who also scored in the shootout, tied it 2-2 with 59 seconds remaining in the third period on a one-timer from the right circle with Braden Holtby pulled for the extra skater.
The Capitals (15-3-4), who were coming off a 5-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday, are 12-1-2 in their past 15 games.
WATCH: [All Capitals vs. Bruins highlights]
"I think it means we're doing some things right," Oshie said. "Obviously, we played most or all the game being down a goal, but we just stuck the course tonight, which was good to see. Obviously, a tough loss last night, we weren't really going except for maybe a couple guys, so it's nice to see us respond tonight and play to the very end, that's what it took."
Jakub Vrana scored the winner in the fifth round of the shootout, and Holtby made 21 saves.
"We have a lot of great shootout players, and you know I've been watching them and obviously learning from them," Vrana said.

Jaroslav Halak made 42 saves for the Bruins (12-3-5), who are 1-2-3 in their past six games. Boston has lost all four of its games that have gone to a shootout this season, including three in the past week.
"He was our best player by far," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of Halak. "Disappointing that we couldn't finish it because I thought our third period, we really bought into what we needed to do compared to the Florida game, for example (a 5-4 shootout loss Nov. 12). We didn't give up much at all. … But I liked that we really backed [Halak] up in that third period, but in the first and second, yeah, he made a number of outstanding saves and again in the shootout."
Charlie Coyle gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 11:32 of the first period, cutting down the slot and redirecting a centering pass from Danton Heinen five-hole.

Travis Boyd, who was recalled Hershey of the American Hockey League earlier in the day, tied it 1-1 at 14:27 on a deflection of John Carlson's point shot.
Washington outshot Boston 18-9 in the first period.
David Pastrnak put the Bruins ahead 2-1 at 3:30 of the second period, banking in a shot off Holtby from a sharp angle after Charlie McAvoy's initial shot went wide.

"You want two points. You take all the points you can get, but we want to be able to shut the door when we get the lead like that that late in the game," Coyle said. "And especially for your goaltender, he played so well, you want to end things on the right note for him. He kept us in the game."
Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron did not play because of a lower-body injury.

They said it

"It usually is. When you're getting a lot of chances and not scoring, it's usually pretty hard to come back (to the bench) and not slam the door. But tonight, guys weren't getting frustrated whatsoever. You know, we had a couple chances, I had a couple chances, maybe a couple empty-netters, that didn't quite go in. You know, you just go back to the bench and get ready for your next shift. It was great to see the guys play a very mature game in that way." -- Capitals forward T.J. Oshie on staying focused while outshooting the Bruins 44-23
"Definitely it hasn't been our strength. We haven't been able to pull the win out of shootouts. Yeah, it [stinks] obviously. Usually shootouts are 50-50. These days, it's probably 20-80."-- Bruins forward David Pastrnak on shootouts
"He's just dangerous everywhere, so I'm trying to keep him to the outside and make his life tough and kind of frustrate him."-- Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy on helping to hold Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin without a point

Need to know

Washington leads the NHL with 10 road wins. No other team has more than seven. The Capitals have won their past eight games in Boston with their last loss coming March 6, 2014. … Carlson has nine points (one goal, eight assists) during a six-game point streak. … Bruins forward Paul Carey, who was called up from Providence of the AHL to replace Bergeron, played his 100th NHL game. … Bruins defenseman Torey Krug, who missed his third straight game because of an upper-body injury, was placed on injured reserve before the game. Boston has seven players on injured reserve. … Coyle has five points (two goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak.

What's next

Capitals: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Monday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, NBCSWA, PRIME, NHL.TV)
Bruins:At the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, SNE, SNO, SNW, MSG, NESN, NHL.TV)