An instant classic ended with Brad Marchand burying a one-time feed from Matt Grzelcyk 39 seconds into overtime as the Bruins beat the Capitals 4-3 to even up their first-round series at one game apiece.
The game got off to a wild start with a first period that saw each team score twice and register 18 shots on goal while throwing plenty of hits all over the ice. The second period was wild for different reasons, with three sets of matching penalties generating some more bad blood, but also interrupting the flow of the game.
The Capitals took control early in the third period and took a 3-2 lead when a bad pinch by Kevan Miller led to a 2-on-1 goal for Garnet Hathaway. The Bruins showed great fight, though, and fought back to tie the game with 2:49 left in regulation when Taylor Hall banged a puck in during a mad scramble in the Washington crease.
Here are three key takeaways from the game:
1. Top forwards step up
Simply put, the Bruins’ top two lines weren’t good enough in Game 1, with a lone David Pastrnak assist their only showing on the box score. The Bruins needed that to change in Game 2, and it did, with the first line scoring early, the second line tying the game late, and a mix of the two winning it in overtime during a line change.
With the game tied 1-1 midway through the first, David Pastrnak made a great play to keep the puck in the offensive zone and Brad Marchand drove the net to open up a passing lane, which Pastrnak then used to find Patrice Bergeron in the high slot. Bergeron, who didn’t have a single shot on goal in Game 1, proceeded to rifle a shot over Anderson’s glove to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead.
Marchand’s discipline flared up as a notable negative in the middle of the game. He took one post-whistle penalty in the first that negated the rest of a Bruins power play, then he took another in the second when he and Anthony Mantha got sent off for more post-whistle activity. Marchand is just way too valuable to the Bruins to be getting sent to the box for post-whistle nonsense that has zero effect on the game, other than to remove him from it for two minutes.
Marchand would of course make up for that, though, as he buried the game-winner 39 seconds into overtime off a one-time feed from Matt Grzelcyk.
With the Bruins trailing 3-2 late in the third, it was the second line that stepped up to tie it, with Taylor Hall, David Krejci and Craig Smith all jamming at a loose puck in the crease before Hall eventually whacked it in. Krejci also started the sequence that led to the game-winning goal when he came off the bench and made a great keep-in at the offensive blue line before feeding Grzelcyk, who then fed Marchand.
2. Rask good enough
With seemingly all eyes on Tuuukka Rask, let’s get this out of the way first.
The Bruins could have easily fallen behind early if not for Rask, who made several great saves early in the game, including one on a Nic Dowd breakaway, as the team in front of him struggled to get going out of the gate.
There was nothing Rask could have done about Washington’s first goal, which came on a T.J. Oshie redirect right in front on the power play, but he probably should have stopped the second.
It wouldn’t have been an easy save by any means, as there were about five bodies in front of Rask and the initial shot from the point got deflected at least twice. But it wound up sliding right through his legs, which is the one spot he really should’ve had covered with that much traffic in front. But Rask had been standing up to try to see through the bodies and just didn’t get down in time.
The Capitals’ third goal came on a 2-on-1 after a horrible pinch by Kevan Miller in the neutral zone. Rask still had a chance to stop Garnet Hathaway’s shot and while it would have taken a great save, that’s obviously a situation where you’d really love for your goalie to cover up the defensive mistake.
Rask finished the game with 36 saves on 39 shots.
3. New-look third line strikes early, shows promise
With the Bruins’ third line struggling last game and Jake DeBrusk playing well on the fourth, Bruce Cassidy decided to reunite the third line he originally wanted after the trade deadline, moving Charlie Coyle back to center with DeBrusk on his right and Nick Ritchie on his left, with Sean Kuraly dropping down to the fourth line.
It paid off on just their second shift of the game when they gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Coyle made an aggressive drive to and then behind the net that drew Craig Anderson way out of position, allowing Coyle to wrap around and find DeBrusk in front for his second goal in as many games.
Ritchie-Coyle-DeBrusk never really clicked in their time together after the deadline, which is what prompted Cassidy to move Coyle to the wing and drop DeBrusk down in the lineup in the first place. But since then, Coyle and DeBrusk have both started playing better.
A foolish Ritchie roughing penalty aside, the third line looked good most of the game, with DeBrusk in particular consistently showing some energy and offensive aggression.