Unfortunately, the Bruins were once again on the losing end.
After staking a 1-0 lead through the first frame, the Bruins fell for the eighth straight time, this time by a 4-1 score to the red-hot Washington Capitals. David Krejci struck first with a power-play goal just seven minutes into the action, but after former Bruin Mike Knuble knotted the score two minutes into the second, the Caps took their first lead behind Brooks Laich five minutes into the third. Just 2:47 later, Washington widened the margin to 3-1 on a Boyd Gordon goal, and Alex Ovechkin tallied an empty-netter with 32 seconds left.
The 11-game winning streak is a franchise record for the Capitals.
Despite earning six power plays, the Bruins managed to capitalize on just one of them, and the B's outshot the Capitals 42-25 but once again had nothing to show for it.
Boston goaltender Tim Thomas finished with 22 saves on 25 shots, while Jose Theodore stopped 41 of 42 shots for the Caps.
Capitals 4, Bruins 1
TD Garden, Boston, Mass.
Feb. 2, 2010
Headliner: Mike Knuble made his presence felt in his return to the city he used
to call home, tallying his 19th goal of the season two minutes into the
second period to knot the score at 1. Knuble, who spent about four
years in a Bruins uniform before the lockout, now has 12 goals in his last 14
games.
Grinder: The Bruins led 1-0 at the conclusion of the first period for the
first time since Jan. 5, and it was all because of David Krejci's
power-play goal seven minutes into the action. Given the rarity of a
Bruins goal on the man advantage — and given the rarity of a lead
going into the first intermission — the lamp-lighter helped the Bruins gain
both some confidence and some momentum early against the conference's best
team. The goal also gave Krejci two points in his last two games.
Marc Savard assisted on the goal, giving him a point in each of his last three games since returning from an MCL injury.
Weak Link: Everyone knew that when Phil Kessel was shipped out of town this summer, the Bruins offense would suffer — but did anyone really expect it to suffer this much? In their last eight games, the Bruins have scored more than one goal just twice, and they haven't scored more than two goals since Jan. 16 — the last time they won. Yes, there have been injuries to key cogs in the lineup, but if the B's keep making excuses for their offensive inadequacies, they're going to be excusing themselves right out of postseason contention.
Once again, the opportunities were there for Boston — it outshot Washington 42-25 — but the B's just couldn't finish.
Key Moment: Optimism was high as the B's held a 1-0 lead through the first period against the league's hottest team. But after letting the Capitals tie things up right off the bat in the second period, Washington earned its first lead of the game early in the third when Brooks Laich tallied his 17th goal of the season to put the Caps up 2-1.
From there, things seemed to spiral for the spent Bruins, who quickly ran out of steam and surrendered another goal just 2:47 later. This time, Boyd Gordon did the honors for just the second time this season.
What's Next: The Bruins swing back into action on Thursday for an always-exciting matchup with the Canadiens — a matchup that got a bit less intimidating on Tuesday, when it was announced that Montreal's top scorer Mike Cammalleri will miss the next six weeks with a knee injury.
The Canadiens, currently leading Boston by three points in the Northeast Division standings, snapped out of a three-game losing streak with a win over Vancouver on Tuesday, but they've still dropped six of nine. Both teams are reeling, both teams are suffering from injuries to impact players and both are desperately trying to snag a point in the standings. The Habs have won both meetings between the two this season, so we'll see if the Black and Gold can manage to get some revenge when they need it most.
