Hello All,

The Washington Capitals defeated the Boston Bruins by a score of 4-2. The Caps were playing on the second half of a back-to-back and still found a way to win. As you will see below in the stats, the Bruins outplayed the Caps for the most part today.

Here are the stats from the game:

Shots on Goal:
WSH – 33
BOS – 30

Shots on Goal (5v5):
WSH – 24
BOS – 27

Corsi For %:
WSH – 40.8%
BOS – 59.2%

Corsi For % (5v5):
WSH – 42.42%
BOS – 57.58%

Power Play:
WSH – 0/2
BOS – 0/4

Hits:
WSH – 45
BOS – 39

Blocks:
WSH – 25
BOS – 9

Scoring Chances For:
WSH – 23
BOS – 45

Scoring Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 21
BOS – 36

High Danger Chances For:
WSH– 11
BOS – 23

High Danger Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 9
BOS – 19

My Takeaways:

Lars Eller - Tiger played a great game! He finished the night with 1G-1A-2P. His goal was tallied as the game-winning goal. He also had three shots, two hits, and one block in 13:03 TOI. Eller also a drew a penalty. Eller took 13 faceoff draws and only managed to win 5 of them (38.46%). Eller was coming off a game against the Penguins where he took two back-to-back minor penalties in the first period. I should be fair and also point out he did take another minor penalty today. To see him rebound today with a pretty sound game has to give him confidence.

The Penalty Kill - The Caps PK has been on a roll lately. Today the Caps killed off all four of the Bruins power plays. According to @CapitalsPR twitter, the Capitals have a 85.7% penalty kill percentage since March 1st, which ranks second in the NHL during that span. In addition, the Caps have killed off 19 of the last 20 opposing power play opportunities. I will keep it real and say that 4/4 on the PK is great but not as good as it looks on paper. The Bruins still managed to produce 8 scoring chances, 4 high-danger chances, and three shots on goal during their four power plays. Like the Penguins game yesterday, I was not a huge fan of the amount of zone time the Bruins had on the power play. The Caps are playing with fire if they don't tighten that up. At the end of the day, the PK did its job and produced.

Tom Wilson - Boy wonder was at it again last night. Tom Wilson scored the game-tying goal in the second period off a Lars Eller rebound. Wilson now has 8G-8A-16P in his last 18 games played. He has offically set career highs in goals (23), assists (27), points (50), and shooting % (17.7%). Last night Tom Wilson had a well rounded game. He had a two shots, a goal, 3 hits, and 1 block. If Tom Wilson get stay hot for April and into the presumable playoffs, the Caps will be a tough physical out in the playoffs.

John Carlson - Carlson is absolutely on fire. He had his third career 4-point game against the lightning last Wednesday. He had another goal and assist last night. This is Carlson's third straight multi-point game for the Caps. Carlson has been sneaky good on the offensive end this season. He has 63 points on the year which is only 12 off from his career high in 2019 when he was robbed of the Norris. Defensively, Carlson has played more consistent lately as well.

Honorable Mention:

Chasing Gordie - Ovechkin scored an empty net goal last night as time expired. Ovechkin leads the league with 9 empty net goals. He now has 45 goals on the season and 775 for his career. He now only needs 26 goals to tie Gordie Howe and 119 to tie Gretzky. Think about this for a second. When Ovechkin scores 40 goals next year, he will be at most 79 goals away from Gretzky!!! Only 79!!! I am telling ya, once he gets within double digits...its on! Also, does Ovechkin get 5 goals in his final 10 games to reach 50 goals this season? Its going to be close.

Blocked Shots - The Caps have been blocking tons of shots lately. The Caps blocked 20 shots on Saturday and set a single-season high yesterday by blocking 29 shots from Boston. The Caps rank 12th in the league in blocks/60min at 13.93.

Final Thoughts - I also wanted to take a moment to reflect back on the last three games for the Caps. Heading into the tough schedule for the week, the Caps had been blown out by a combined score of 12-2 by Carolina and Minnesota. After those beat downs, the Caps had to face Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, and Boston all over the course of a week. Boston of course on the second half of a back to back. With the Islanders surging in the standings, the Capitals absolutely needed to win at least 2 of the 3 games. The Caps could have easily gone 0-3 in these games but battled and found ways to win. A true test of a will to win and I think it speaks to the guys they have in the locker room. This team may not be favored to do much in the playoffs if they get there, but you can bet your behind they will not go down without a fight.

Next up, the Capitals face the Philadelphia Flyers at home on Tuesday at 7pm. Thanks for reading and GO CAPS!

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