Capitals use shootout to defeat Bruins in Chara return to Boston

BOSTON --The Washington Capitals won Zdeno Chara's return to TD Garden, defeating the Boston Bruins 2-1 in the shootout Wednesday.

Jakub Vrana scored the only goal in the shootout, and Vitek Vanecek made 18 saves for the Capitals (13-5-4), who won their season-high fourth straight game and extended their point streak to six games (5-0-1).
"I thought it was a good game. I mean it was tight out there," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "You know through probably 50 minutes of the game, the shots were low, the chances were really low, both sides. Defensively, I thought we were good. Offensively, we'll try to step on the gas a little bit more and they'll probably say the same thing. It was just one of those games that was tight. You had to play the game that was dealt, and that was the game that was dealt."
Tuukka Rask made 27 saves, including five in overtime for the Bruins (12-5-3), who lost for the fifth time in seven games (2-4-1).
"We stayed in the game, which at home you want to push the pace and the tempo, there's no doubt about that," Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. "So [I'm] not going to sit here and say we're satisfied, but they've got a good team over there, we've got some young [defensemen] that have to understand what it's like to play against big guys, explosive guys, so I thought situationally we handled that well."

David Pastrnak gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 1:19 of the third period. Brad Marchand stole the puck from John Carlson at the Boston blue line and set up Pastrnak on a 2-on-1.
Lars Eller tied it 1-1 at 6:14 when he banged in a rebound of a Nick Jensen slap shot from the top of the right face-off circle.
T.J. Oshie's goal for Washington at 10:51 of the first period was overturned after Boston challenged for offside.
The Capitals have allowed seven goals in their past four games.
"We know what we have to do to be successful, and tonight was a perfect example of that against a really good team," Washington defenseman Brenden Dillon said. "We had good sticks, we were blocking shots, we were doing the little things that are going to make us successful in playoff hockey."
The teams play again here Friday to finish the two-game set. Boston is 1-0-2 against Washington this season; they'll play eight times in the MassMutual East Division.
"They compete hard, they've got a lot of guys that are physical, they're a big team," Marchand said. "And we have to play that same way to compete with all those teams and to be the best in our division. We came along as the game went on. We didn't have our best first [period], but we got through it and … it was a great feeling there in the second and the third. It was a playoff-type game, got a little more physical as the game went on. But that's what we've got to expect every night."

Chara had two hits and a blocked shot in 16:59 of ice time. The defenseman was Bruins captain for 14 seasons before he signed with the Capitals this offseason as a free agent.
Chara, who received a video tribute during the first period without fans in the stands, was not made available after the game.
"Guys played hard tonight," Laviolette said. "It was an important game coming back to Boston for [Chara]. Important for our team, just where we sit, but important for that reason as well. Guys, I think, knew that. I'm really happy for him that we were able to come in and help him out and get a win in his first game back in Boston."
NOTES: Laviolette became the 15th NHL coach with 650 regular-season wins. He is 650-430-127 with 25 ties. … Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov had two shots in 20:52 of ice time after missing two games with an upper-body injury. … Bruins forward David Krejci played 20:39 after missing four games with an upper-body injury, and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk had two blocked shots in 21:34 after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. … Defenseman Jarred Tinordi had two hits and played 16:41 in his Boston debut. He was claimed off waivers from the Nashville Predators on Saturday. … The Bruins' 19 shots were the fewest by a Capitals opponent this season. Boston's first shot came at 15:27 of the first period, by Jake DeBrusk.