Oct 11, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Washington Capitals right wing
Eric Fehr(16) jumps to avoid Boston Bruins defenseman
Zdeno Chara(33) during the third period of Washington
The Boston Bruins took on the Washington Capitals tonight at the TD Garden, and by all accounts it was an utter rout of the Black and Gold. The Bruins were unable to contain Alex Ovechkin (who had two goals and was awarded Second Star of the Night) or their time in the box in a rough 4-0 defeat at home. There were few positives to take out of this game, but they should be mentioned.
“It’s not Bruins hockey. It’s not the way we want to play hockey, Expectations are a lot higher for this group.” – Bruins forward Chris Kelly
The Bruins had a strong first period putting fourteen shots on goal in the first period(They only got off fifteen more in the other two.) It was a strong start and something to build on. The Bruins were still rather magnificent in the face off circle. Six of the Bruins were fifty percent or higher on faceoffs. It’s not much, but still the B’s weren’t completely off.
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Chris Kelly was probably the best player on the ice for Boston tonight. He walked away even on the plus/minus, had three shots, four hits, a blocked shot and went 89% in the face off circle. He had the fire and energy the Boston team needed, but after the first period the Bruins just fell flat.
Credit should be given to the Washington Capitals. Ovechkin’s line was firing on all cylinders, they went 2-for-4 on the power play, and Brayden Holtby stood on his head stopping quality chances for Boston early in the game. He was even better when the Bruins were on the power play themselves. He stopped all twenty nine shots on the evening, and he earned the First Star of the Night honors.
Puck Prose
Tuukka Rask is one of those goaltenders that will give us thirty amazing games in a row, and then every once in a while just have an off-night. It didn’t help his case that the young defense wasn’t there, and Chara who usually devours Ovechkin wasn’t all there either.
“I think that we all are struggling,” B’s captain Zdeno Chara said postgame. “It’s just one of those things that we knew we didn’t have our, I’m not even saying best game against Detroit, and we didn’t follow up being better for tonight’s game. just got embarrassed, and I think we all got to really look at what we can start doing better and really take pride in that because a game like tonight, it’s not acceptable and for sure it’s something we have to correct and do it really fast.
The Bruins will pick themselves up and get ready for the game on Monday night against the Colorado Avalanche at the TD Garden.