Bruins-Capitals: Boston Runs into Trouble in Nation's Capital

Eliott BrysonDec 10, 2008

The Washington Capitals looked good from the beginning.

An early powerplay immediately offset the mentality of the Boston Bruins bench in the first period.

After a penalty kill by the Capitals, they went on the powerplay and did not miss their chance.

The explosive Washington Capitals offense capitalized (no pun intended) on their powerplay converting with a goal by Nicklas Backstrom, his ninth at 3:53 in the first period which he tipped in off of a slapshot by Alexander Ovechkin.

The second period started slow but soon picked up as Alexandre Giroux scored his first NHL goal at 4:52 off a juicy rebound from Manny Fernandez.

The absolutely stellar goaltending from Brent Johnson kept Blake Wheeler and Patrice Bergeron from easy goals, and gave the Caps a huge morale boost.

The Bruins finally got their goal as late as it could have been in the second. A one-timer pass across the slot from Phil Kessel was put into the goal by Milan Lucic's eighth at 19:25.

Although the Capitals led after two periods, it was the Bruins gaining momentum.

A minute and a half in to the third, Alexandre Giroux missed his penalty shot attempt. This was followed by energetic play on both sides of the ice, and finally, with 51.9 seconds remaining, Alexander Ovechkin scored on an empty netter, which ended the game, and the Bruins five-game win streak.

The Capitals' win moved them to 16-10-3 on the season. The Bruins' loss ended their five-game win streak, and depending on the outcome of the Rangers game, lose ground in the Eastern Conference.