Michael Ryder Leads Bruins to Overtime Win Over Capitals
last-day-of-the-season game that had no effect on the standings, Alex
Ovechkin and his teammates tried their best to win the two-time reigning
MVP some more individual hardware.
The result was a big zero, as in
neither a goal nor an assist for Ovechkin in a 4-3 shootout loss to the
Boston Bruins.
The game ended his chase for the overall scoring title —
Vancouver’s Henrik Sedin gets the honor — although Ovechkin still had a
chance to share the goal-scoring crown pending the outcome of Sunday’s
other games.
“Sometimes you win; sometimes you
lose, so congrats to Sedin,” Ovechkin said. “He deserved it. He played
great. We all tried, but some get it, some don’t.”
Ovechkin ends the season with 50
goals, quite a feat considering he missed 10 games due to injuries and
suspensions. He began the day tied with Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos and
one goal ahead of Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, both of whom played later.
Ovechkin was trying to become the first player to win the Maurice
Richard Trophy three years in a row since Brett Hull (1990-92).
Ovechkin also piled up 109 points to
finish three behind Sedin for the Art Ross Trophy.
Of course, Ovechkin could have other
trophies in store. He’s certainly a front-runner to win the Hart Trophy
for MVP again, and the Capitals are top contenders to capture their
first Stanley Cup.
“It doesn’t take away from the year he
had,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. “He didn’t get any points today.
Sometimes you just can’t dig it up to do it. Boston looked to me like
their whole concern was not to let Alex score. So we’ll get back to
normal. I’m glad the whole race thing is over.”
The Capitals then retreated to a team
dinner, where they would keep an eye on the scoreboard to see which team
— Montreal or the New York Rangers — they will face in the first round
of the playoffs. The Bruins had a similar bit of suspense, waiting to
learn whether Buffalo or New Jersey would be first up on their playoff
docket.
David Krejci and Miroslav Satan scored
in the shootout for the Bruins, who ended the regular season on a
three-game winning streak. Ovechkin and the Capitals’ other top scorers
didn’t take part in the shootout as Boudreau gave Boyd Gordon and Matt
Bradley rare — but unsuccessful — chances against Boston backup goalie
Tim Thomas.
Two Washington players did achieve
major personal benchmarks. Alexander Semin reached the 40-goal mark for
the first time and also notched his 300th career point.
Also, defenseman Jeff Schultz became
the first Capitals player to lead the league in plus-minus rating. He
was plus-2 for the game, putting him at plus-50 for season.
Eric Belanger and Mike Knuble also
scored for the Capitals, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.
Michael Ryder scored twice in the
first period, and Marco Sturm tied the game with 4:18 remaining in
regulation for the Bruins.
“It’s nice getting a little momentum
going into the playoffs,” Boston left wing Shawn Thornton said, “and it
was nice seeing everybody come to work when we had our best players
out.”
With both teams’ seeds in the Eastern
Conference playoffs already secured — Washington at No. 1, Boston at
No. 6 — the game provided an extra day of rest for many regulars. Among
the scratches for Boston were Patrice Bergeron, Andrew Ference, Mark
Recchi, Zdeno Chara, Mark Stuart and Vladimir Sobotka. Thomas made 34
saves in place of Tuukka Rask. Center Zach Hamill got an assist in his
first NHL game.
Tomas Fleischmann, Eric Fehr, Quintin
Laing, Tyler Sloan and John Erskine had the day off for Washington.
Boudreau has yet to announce his No. 1 goaltender for the playoffs, so
Semyon Varlamov got the start and made 35 saves in his bid to win the
job over Jose Theodore.
The Capitals sold out every home game
this season for the first time in franchise history and finished with a
club record 121 points in the standings, the first team outside of the
NHL’s Original Six to reach the 120 mark.
“We’re glad it’s over,” Boudreau
said. “We knew for a long time we were going to be in the playoffs, so
as much as you want to push them, they’re looking forward to a different
kind of challenge.”
Notes
Thomas unloaded a series of
haymakers on Capitals LW Jason Chimera after Chimera was bumped into the
Bruins goaltender in the first period. “Looking at the replay, I
overreacted,” Thomas said. “It wasn’t as bad as I felt like it was at
the time. But I hadn’t played in a while and I needed to do something to
get myself in the game.” Chimera’s response: “Overreacted? The guy
punches me with the blocker five times in the face and doesn’t take his
mask off. It’s called stupidity, not overreacting.” Thomas was given 4
minutes for roughing, while Chimera got 2 minutes for goaltender
interference. Chimera later received a 10-minute misconduct after jawing
at other players while making a move toward Thomas. Chimera then
committed a cross-checking penalty in the second period, but later drew a
penalty on Boston’s Dennis Wideman. … The Bruins avoided a sweep in
the season series, having lost the first three.