Photo: @Capitals
The Washington Capitals lost to the Boston Bruins by a score of 4-1 at TD Garden on Monday, the final night of NHL action before the league’s three-day holiday break, to fall to 23-9-2 (.706 points percentage) this season. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 18 saves in Washington’s third loss in five games since their nine-game point-streak (8-0-1) ended, all of which have come on the road.
Washington’s Lines
Andrew Mangiapane — Dylan Strome — Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Aliaksei Protas
Jakub Vrana — Taylor Raddysh — Dylan McIlrath
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Ivan Miroshnichenko
Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Lindgren
Logan Thompson
Scratched
- D Alexander Alexeyev
- C Henrik Rybinski
- C Hendrix Lapierre
Injured
- LW Alex Ovechkin (fractured fibula)
- LW Sonny Milano (upper-body)
- C Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
- RW T.J. Oshie (back)
- C Lars Eller (illness)
Lapierre came out of the lineup for McIlrath in Washington’s lone line change from their 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.
Boston’s Lines
Morgan Geekie — Pavel Zacha — David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand — Elias Lindholm — Charlie Coyle
Oliver Wahlstrom — Trent Frederic — Justin Brazeau
John Beecher — Mark Kastelic — Cole Koepke
Nikita Zadorov — Charlie McAvoy
Jordan Oesterle — Brandon Carlo
Mason Lohrei — Andrew Peeke
Joonas Korpisalo
Jeremy Swayman
Scratched
- D Parker Wotherspoon
- C Marc McLaughlin
Injured
- D Hampus Lindholm (lower-body)
First Period
Scoring
- 19:13, 1-0 Boston (PPG): After Lohrei fed Geekie in the right dot from the top, he wristed one into the pad of Lindgren but Brazeau was right there at the doorstep to bury one.
Power play goal for Boston!
Scored by Justin Brazeau with 00:48 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Morgan Geekie and Mason Lohrei.
Boston: 1
Washington: 0#WSHvsBOS #NHLBruins #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/0GN1BM9VVA— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 24, 2024
Stats
- 6-3 Boston in shots
- .786 Boston on faceoffs
- Both teams had a power play in the first
- 6-5 Boston in hits
- 5-3 Boston in blocked shots
- 7-4 Washington in giveaways
- 2-2 in takeaways
Second Period
Scoring
- 4:50, 1-1 (PPG): Vrana blasted a one-timer to the top corner from the right dot after getting a feed from the top by Sandin. Vrana has now scored in three-straight games. Vrana also extends his point streak to four games (3-1-4) with the goal. It marks Vrana’s first three-game goal streak since the 2019-20 season (three games, 1/16/20 – 1/27/20: three). Sandin earned his 100th career NHL point. With the secondary assist, Dubois, who has recorded 12 points (three goals) in his last 11 games, extends his point streak to four games (1-4-5).
V’s got 3 goals in 3 games#ALLCAPS | @BlueHalo pic.twitter.com/wf1o3teLEJ
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 24, 2024
Stats
- 13-7 Boston in shots
- including 7-4 in the second
- .821 Boston on faceoffs
- Each team scored once on their first two power plays
- 15-13 Boston in hits
- 8-7 Boston in blocked shots
- 12-8 Washington in giveaways
- 6-2 Washington in takeaways
Third Period
Scoring
- 13:41, 2-1 Boston: Lindholm caught a flying puck in the neutral zone, executed a give-and-go with Marchand, drove to the net, deked, got Lindgren out of the cage, and backhanded one into an open goal.
Elias Lindholm with a slick finish to give the Bruins the lead.
2-1 Boston. pic.twitter.com/Nj0vTKGJbv
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) December 24, 2024
- 15:59, 3-1: After entering the zone, Coyle fed Marchand from the right half-wall. Marchand stepped into a wrist shot and hit the post before Coyle drove to the net and potted one into an open cage.
The Marchand-Lindholm-Coyle line strikes again with two goals in 2:18.
Coyle makes it a 3-1 game. pic.twitter.com/HFFBnr2fFq
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) December 24, 2024
- 18:36, 4-1 (ENG): Marchand skated in alone after blocking Chychrun’s point shot and took the puck to the cage.
Stats
- 22-11 Boston in shots
- including 9-4 in the third
- .66 Boston on faceoffs
- Boston finished with four power plays
- 19-17 Boston in hits
- 17-11 Boston in blocked shots
- 14-12 Washington in giveaways
- 6-4 Washington in takeaways
Washington stayed a point behind the New Jersey Devils (with three games in hand) for the Metropolitan Division lead and remained five ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes (with both teams having played 34 games after Monday night).
Next game: Saturday at Toronto Maple Leafs (7 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market)
By Harrison Brown