Alex Ovechkin scores a goal as Capitals hold off Bruins, 4-3

Steve Conroy, Boston Herald on Apr 1, 2025

Published in Hockey

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BOSTON — There was a little something for all types of hockey fans on Tuesday in the Bruins-Capitals game at TD Garden.

Alex Ovechkin scored a goal on his historic run, a great fight charged the atmosphere and the Bruins made a spirited comeback. And for those B’s fans hoping for the best draft pick possible in June, there was the ninth straight Bruins loss, a 4-3 defeat that was more fun than expected.

The overmatched B’s showed some gumption, but Dylan Strome broke a 2-2 tie midway through the third period and Tom Wilson scored on a flukish deflected goal off Mason Lohrei with 5:14 left.

David Pastrnak scored his second of the game and 37th of the year 27 seconds later and he had one final shot at the buzzer but Charlie Lindgren made the save to nail to the Capitals win.

The only intriguing storylines heading into this game had to do with the Capitals. There was the NHL debut of Ryan Leonard, the former Boston College star and Amherst native who signed his deal on Monday after his Eagles were bounced from the NCAA tournament on Sunday.

And, of course, there was Ovechkin, who came into the game just five goals shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record of 894.

The Caps’ captain would pull the Great One a little closer to him before the first period was out.

The game was uneventful until Dylan McIlrath took a crosschecking penalty on Cole Koepke and then Pastrnak had a disastrous power play.

Off the first faceoff, Washington defenseman John Carlson wrapped the puck around the boards for a clear and Pastrnak raced over to stop it at the left point. He blocked it with his skate, which caused him to stumble and allow Brandon Duhaime to break out on a 2-on-1 with Nic Dowd. Dowd took Duhaime’s pass and, from the left wing, beat Jeremy Swayman over the left shoulder at 13:32. It was the 12th short-handed goal the B’s have allowed this season.

Then, on the remaining PP time, Pastrnak took an offensive zone hooking penalty and, after 31 seconds of 4-on-4 time, the Caps’ PP made quick work of the B’s penalty kill. A tic-tac-toe play led to a Dylan Strome set-up for an Ovechkin tap-in at 15:43. The Garden crowd, many wearing red Caps gear, roared in appreciation of Ovechkin’s ongoing greatness. At the age of 39, Ovechkin was up to 38 goals on the season.

Leonard, meanwhile, didn’t look out of place on an NHL stage as he delivered a big open-ice hit on Jeffrey Viel.

Second periods have been disastrous for the B’s in their tail spin to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, but a little bit of pride kicked in for them on Tuesday.

All of sudden, they were winning some races and their hustle got them on the board at 6:05. Casey Mittelstadt cut off a puck that was meant to go up the boards and out of the zone and it deflected into the slot, where Vinni Lettieri chased it down and beat Lindgren to make it 2-1.

Later in the period at 14:39, Viel — inserted in the lineup for Fabian Lysell — dropped the gloves with McIlrath, giving up three inches and 35 pounds. Viel took and gave some heavyweight shots in a rousing bout that had its desired effect.

Less than a minute later, Jakob Chychrun was called for holding on John Beecher and, after Swayman was called on to make a couple of saves on short-handed bids by Washington, the B’s tied it up at 17:12. After Mittelstadt did a great job of simultaneously keeping the puck in and thwarting another potential short-handed rush from Dowd, Pastrnak redirected Moran Geekie’s pass home for his 36th of the year.

Both teams had chances to take the lead but both Swayman and Lindgren came up with big stops. But at 10:37, the Caps got the go-ahead goal. Aliaksei Protas fired a shot from the blue line that just missed the net. It took a perfect bounce off the end board and Strome, who’d been providing a screen in front, knocked home the rebound past Swayman, who’d come to the top of his crease to play the original shot.

The Caps never trailed again.