It’s not the way the Boston Bruins wanted to start the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Nic Dowd deflected a TJ Oshie slap shot from the point 4:41 into overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 3-2 win over the Bruins in Game 1 of the East Division best-of-seven series at Captial One Arena Saturday night.
Washington twice had one-goal leads in the first and second periods and twice the Bruins were able to battle to tie the game and eventually force overtime.
Tom Wilson opened the scoring for the Capitals at 6:22 of the first period. They held onto the lead for just under seven before the Bruins not only tied the game but also knocked out starting Caps goalie Vitek Vanecek.
Curtis Lazar, acquired from the Buffalo Sabres at the trade deadline along with Taylor Hall, won a faceoff in the Capitals’ end. Jake DeBrusk collected the puck and fired a wrist shot past a stunned Vanecek, who injured himself on the goal trying to make a save. He was removed from the game in favor of veteran Craig Anderson.
#CELLYSZN strikes.#NHLBruins | @JDebrusk pic.twitter.com/72BgSRe96n
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) May 15, 2021
In the second period, Washington again took a one-goal lead at 2-1 when Brenden Dillon’s shot from the point found its way through traffic and past Tuukka Rask.
Again, the Bruins responded late in the second period. On the power play, Nick Ritchie was created with a goal when the puck deflected off his body and barely crossing the goal line.
The Bruins will look to even the series in Game 2 Monday night at 7:30 back at Capital One Arena. The Black and Gold still have a chance to do what they set out to do before the series started, get a split, and come back home even. If they are to do that, they need to take more advantage of the scoring chances they have, something they failed to do Saturday night.