The Boston Bruins rallied for a 5-3 come-from-behind win over the Washington Capitals Monday night at Capital One Arena by scoring the final five goals of the game, including four in the third period.
As usual, some of the Bruins’ top players contributed to winning the game. David Pastrnak scored his first two goals of the game and of the season in his second game, Craig Smith tied the game and Brad Marchand sealed the win with an empty-net goal.
While some of the Bruins veterans had a hand in the win, so did some players that you usually don’t hear from offensively. Two players that hardly ever find the scoresheet did so in the third period Monday night and helped Boston complete the third-period comeback.
Jeremy Lauzon
Paired with Charlie McAvoy on the Bruins’ top defensive pairing, Lauzon is the more stay at home defensemen while McAvoy has not been afraid to join the offensive rush. Monday night, it was Lauzon who made one of the biggest offensive plays from the duo.
With the Bruins trailing 3-2 in the third period, Lauzon kept the puck in the Caps zone and skated down the boards with the puck. Before he cut behind the Washington net, he found Craig Smith open in the opposite circle and sent a pass to Smith who one-timed his slap shot past Cap goalie Vitek Vanecek to tie the game.
It was Lauzon’s second assist of the season and a timely one for the Black and Gold.
Brandon Carlo
With the game tied late in the third period, the Bruins fourth line was keeping the pressure on the Caps in the offensive end, and eventually, it led to the game-winning goal. Sean Kuraly collected a loose puck behind the net, fed Carlo with a pass, and the 6-foot-5, 212-pound defensemen ripped a slap shot over the shoulder of Vanecek for the game-deciding goal.
It was Carlo’s second goal of the season and a timely one to help the Bruins close to within a point of the Capitals and Flyers in the East Division standings early in the season. It was also Washington’s first regulation loss of the season.
If there is one thing that we have learned early in the season is that this Bruins team doesn’t quit, no matter how many goals they are down. For the second straight game, they rallied from a 3-0 deficit, but this time, they finished the come back to head to Philadelphia feeling good about themselves.