Bruins score seven, end slide against Capitals

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins defeated the Washington Capitals for the second time in their past 18 games, 7-3 at TD Garden on Monday.

Patrice Bergeron scored twice, and Tuukka Rask made 39 saves for the Bruins (22-7-9), who are 2-0-3 in their past five games heading into the Christmas break.
Brad Marchand and David Krejci each had a goal and two assists, and David Pastrnak had three assists for the Bruins, who were 1-12-4 in their previous 17 games and 0-6-2 in their previous eight home games against the Capitals (26-7-5).
WATCH: [All Capitals vs. Bruins highlights]
Boston was 0-1-1 against Washington since a 1-0 win Feb. 3 that ended a 14-game winless streak (0-11-3). The Bruins had not won at home against the Capitals since a 3-0 victory March 6, 2014.
"That's a good team over there. And yeah, we were in desperate need of a win, especially heading into a little break like this, you want to head in with a winning feeling," Bruins forward Charlie Coyle said. "And we came right out of the gates and we got right to it, and you get one early on that helps, but we kept at it. And you see what happens when we play the right way."
Washington allowed four goals in the first period and lost for the first time in three games and third in its past 13 despite outshooting Boston 42-17. Braden Holtby allowed four goals on 11 shots and was pulled after the first period. Ilya Samsonov made three saves in relief.

Boston was 2-for-6 on the power play. Washington went 0-for-5.
"I think we had some poor execution on a few plays, and then were forced to take penalties when they were getting great opportunities, and they capitalized," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. "So far too many penalties, obviously, and … if I had to point to one negative from 39 games into it, that would be it. They got a good power play and they were able to convert."
Jake DeBrusk scored a power-play goal at 5:37 of the first period to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead before Marchand extended it to 2-0 at 13:29. It was Marchand's 19th goal of the season, but his first in 13 games.
"Yeah, I mean it's just kind of been one of those stretches where the puck hasn't been bouncing the right way," Marchand said. "It was just a matter of time. I knew it was going to go in eventually, I wasn't too concerned about it, but it's nice when it does."
Anders Bjork made it 3-0 at 13:56, and Bergeron scored a 5-on-3 goal at 18:57 to extend the lead to 4-0.
"Obviously, we gave [Holtby] no chance. We left him alone out there in the first 10-to-12 minutes, take penalties, make bad plays," Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said.

Coyle scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 6:55 of the second period to make it 5-0.
"You've seen leads in this building, all over the National Hockey League, not just the Boston Bruins, get away from people. … So that gives you a little more comfort level, for sure," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said.
Ovechkin cut the lead to 5-1 at 14:35, and Lars Eller brought the Capitals within 5-2 at 15:29 of the third period.
Krejci scored into an empty net at 16:50 for a 6-2 lead before Garnet Hathaway cut it to 6-3 at 17:47.
Bergeron scored into an empty net at 19:32 for the 7-3 final.

They said it

"I think we just shot ourselves in the foot with all our penalties. Makes it hard to come back from four, but we weren't sharp in executing our passes and we got ourselves in trouble." -- Capitals forward Lars Eller
"It's a lot easier to play this team when you have the lead, make them take chances where maybe they wouldn't if they had the lead, so it was big for us and … then we just rolled from there." -- Bruins forward Brad Marchand

Need to know

Eller has one goal and two assists during a three-game point streak. … Bruins defenseman Torey Krug sustained an upper-body injury in the second period. There was no update. … The Bruins played without defenseman Zdeno Chara because of a scheduled follow-up procedure for a broken jaw sustained during the Stanley Cup Final. Cassidy said the procedure was successful, and Chara is expected to return to the lineup Friday at the Buffalo Sabres. … Bruins forward Danton Heinen played his 200th NHL game. … Coyle's goal was the 100th of his NHL career. … Rask's 14-game home point streak (9-0-5) to start the season is the second longest in Bruins history (Gilles Gilbert, 16-0 with one tie in 1973-74).

What's next

Capitals:Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Bruins:At the Buffalo Sabres on Friday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SN1, SNE, SNP, MSG-B, NESN, NHL.TV)