Bruins vs. Capitals: Why Washington Will Knock Off Top-Ranked Boston

The Boston Bruins will travel to the Verizon Center to take on the Washington Capitals in an important Eastern Conference matchup. 

Boston is the fourth-best team in the NHL and is coming off an upsetting loss against the Montreal Canadiens. The Capitals, however, are coming off a big win against the Winnipeg Jets in which goaltender Braden Holtby shined with an impressive 35 saves in a 3-0 shutout victory. 

He will be put to the test on Tuesday against a Boston offense that averages 32.4 shots per game. 

Led by center Patrice Bergeron (18 points this season), the Bruins have been a tough team to defend, but the Capitals have the pieces in place to pull off the upset. 

Besides Holtby’s recent level of play, the Caps have have also recently had great production from one of their prized veterans.

13-year veteran Mike Ribeiro has been playing very well as of late. Ribeiro has had eight multi-goal games this season, two of which coming in his last four games. He has played a big role in the Caps’ success this past month.

As the midseason mark approaches, the Capitals are still in playoff contention and could very well continue their recent hot streak with an upset of the Bruins. 

Since the season has started, the Capitals have naturally shown much progression under first-year head coach Adam Oates. Washington has won six of its last nine games. 

They are certainly starting to look more like a team and less like the mess they were during their 0-4 start to this season.

It is becoming more and more apparent that the players are picking up Oates’ system; they look much more comfortable and seem to be relying on each other much more easily than they used to. 

Holtby had this to say about the Caps’ recent success (via WashingtonPost.com):

"

I believed it was gonna happen. Everyone else, there was shock on everyone’s faces that we were out of the blocks so slow, but I knew it was gonna turn around. The system is very good, and it just takes a little bit of time to learn it.

"

While Washington is certainly starting to mesh better, there are still growing pains that it is enduring as evident in their 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers last week. 

Even though the Caps are still working out the kinks in their new system, they have certainly shown enough through 20 games to warrant an upset alert for Boston. 

Washington is an ascending team that has been making waves in the Eastern Conference for a while now, and Boston could very well be in trouble come Tuesday night.