Three Boston Bruins keys against the Washington Capitals

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Feb 1, 2021; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Jakub Vrana (13) shoots the puck on Boston Bruins goaltender Jaroslav Halak (41) in the third period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

Believe it or not, the Boston Bruins are going to play a home tonight inside the TD Garden. Having only one game in their home arena in February (a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 18) because of opponents’ coronavirus protocols, the Bruins will welcome a familiar face to the ice.

Former captain Zdeno Chara and his first-place Washington Capitals teammates make their season debut in Boston. As we all know, in December, Chara left in free agency and agreed to a contract with the Caps. For the first time in 14 years, Big Z will take the TD Garden ice as an opponent.

If the Bruins are going to ruin the return to Boston for Chara, these three keys will go a long way into helping them tie the Caps in the East Division standings.

1. Bruins need a strong first-period start.

Boston has lost two of their three games on their recent New York road trip and what it each of the two losses have in common? Slow starts.

Against the New York Islanders, the Bruins trailed 2-1 after the first period, did come back to tie the game in the second period before surrendering five third period goals. The following night against the New York Rangers, the Bruins were badly outplayed, out-hustled, and were outscored in the opening 20 minutes on their way to a 6-2 defeat.

Usually, when a team comes home after a long road trip (and that includes Feb. 22 game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Lake Tahoe, Nevada), the first game back doesn’t generally end up going well.

Against the Capitals, Boston could use a solid start in the opening 20 minutes and set the tone for the final 40 to be in a position to be able to win the game. Good starts can go a long way to a good ending.

TORONTO, ONTARIO – AUGUST 09: T.J. Oshie #77 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with Alex Ovechkin #8 after scoring a goal on Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins during the first period in an Eastern Conference Round Robin game during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 09, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /

2. Bruins penalty kill vs. Capitals power play

The Bruins have the third-ranked penalty kill and the Capitals bring the league’s fourth-ranked power play to the TD Garden. The outcome of this game could very well be decided in this battle.

Washington has no shortage of talent on their unit. Alex Ovechkin is one of the game’s gifted goal scorers and 262 of his 713 goals have come on the man advantage. Add in T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, Jakub Vrana, and John Carlson, then you can see why they are a successful group. There is not much of a drop-off with Conor Sheary, Tom Wilson, and Lars Eller on the second unit.

In their first two meetings this season in the Nations Capital, the Bruins went 2-for-5 on the PK combined in both games, an overtime loss to the Caps and a four-goal third-period rally for a 5-3 victory.

1. Bruins get more secondary scoring

In Sunday’s 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers, the Bruins got much-needed secondary scoring to end a two-game losing streak.

Charlie Coyle scored two goals (one into an empty net), while Trent Frederic and Charlie McAvoy also found the back of the net. Secondary scoring has been an issue for some time for the Black and Gold, but Sunday, it powered them to a win.

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Some offense from Jake DeBrusk, Craig Smith, or anyone else from the blueline would be beneficial, but at this point, the Bruins would take points from anyone not named Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak.

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