Boston Bruins: 6 Takeaways From a 2-1 SO Loss to the Caps

Zdeno Chara’s return to Boston was a good one for the former Bruins captain. His Washington Capitals were able to pull out a 2-1 shootout victory over the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden. Here are six takeaways from the game.

• The Bruins were hit with a COVID-19 protocol when they announced before the game that Charlie Coyle would miss the game due to the NHL’s protocol. As we have seen with other teams, this worth keeping an eye on to see if he joined by more teammates on the list in the coming days.

• Tuukka Rask was a big reason why the Bruins were able to get a point in the standings. He made 27 saves, many at point-blank range. His best save of the night was in overtime when he stoned Washington’s Dmitry Orlov with a pad save late in the extra session on a 2-on-1. Rask’s busiest period was the third when he stopped 11 of the 12 shots he faced, before five more in OT.
• David Pastrnak had the Bruins’ best first-period chance when he hit the post on a breakaway. The puck actually hit the post twice as the rebound hit the back of Capitals goalie Vitek Vanecek and the post a second time before he was able to cover it up. Of course, shots that hit the post don’t count as shots on the net, so the first registered shot on the net for the Black and Gold was a 50-foot wrist shot from the struggling Jake DeBrusk, with 4:32 left in the first period. The B’s ended up with two shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes and just 19 for the game.
• One area that the Bruins struggled in was their breakouts from their own zone and it cost them the game-tieing goal five minutes after Pastrnak gave Boston an early 1-0 third period lead. Sean Kurlay made a cross-ice pass that was stolen by T.J. Oshie and a few seconds later, the puck ended up in the back of the net when Lars Eller stuffed the puck inside the post for a 1-1 game. It could have been a lot worse for the Bruins, but they were bailed out by some big saves from Rask when they failed to get the puck out of the zone.
• The Bruins avoided disaster in the first period when Charlie McAvoy and Alex Ovechkin collided at the Boston blue line while the Caps were on the power play. Ovechkin, who tried to avoid the young B’s blueliner, received an interference penalty and McAvoy never saw the hit coming and was stunned. Both players were down for a minute, but both stayed in the game. The outcome could have been a lot worse for the Bruins.
• Speaking of Ovechkin, the fact that somehow, some way, the Bruins didn’t end up with a power play when he speared Trent Frederic in the third period is stunning. Ovechkin was fined $5,000 by the NHL Thursday morning, but it is just mind-boggling the B’s didn’t get a PP.

The good thing is the Bruins turn right around and get another shot at the Capitals Friday night in the second game of this mini two-game series.