The Bruins won't get much time to lick their wounds from this one, as they get right back in action on Saturday when the red-hot St. Louis Blues come to the Garden.
Third Period, 19:10, Capitals 5-3: Ovechkin ices this one with an empty-net goal from the left side off a feed by Backstrom from behind the net.
That came after Seidenberg made several saves in front of the open net, but Boston couldn't get the puck cleared to go back on the attack.
Third Period, 18:29, Capitals 4-3: Rask comes up with a big stop on Ovechkin from the left side.
Rask has played well in the third to help give Boston the chance to get back in this one.
Third Period, 15:00, Capitals 4-3: Regardless of how this one ends, Tim Thomas will stay undefeated, as Rask will now be the goalie of record as the Bruins tied it with him in net.
Holtby could also get the win in his first appearance as the Caps pulled ahead after their goalie change.
Third Period, 13:25, Capitals 4-3: The Caps answer back with a point shot by Natick, Mass. native John Carlson.
It was a clean face-off win by Boyd Gordon against Lucic, who took the draw after Krejci was kicked out of the circle, and Carlson one-timed it from the right point.
Third Period, 13:12, 3-3: Adam McQuaid pays the price as he blocks a blast by John Erskine, then heads to the locker room.
Third Period, 9:51, 3-3: After the goal, the Caps have made a goalie change, putting in rookie Braden Holtby for his NHL debut.
Tough spot for the youngster to come in with the Bruins buzzing after three straight goals.
Third Period, 9:51, 3-3: The Bruins have come all the way back, as Shawn Thornton scores to tie it.
The Washington defensemen collide to create the opening, and Marchand sends Thornton off on a 2-on-1 break with Seguin. Thornton carries the puck down the left wing and takes the shot himsefl, beating Neuvirth with a backhander for his second goal of the season in his 300th career game.
Third Period, 6:52, Capitals 3-2: The Bruins showing the commitment they lacked earlier here in the third, as Lucic steps up to block a blast by Jeff Schultz.
Just before that, Rask made his first big stop as he was tested with a bid from the left circle.
Third Period, 4:02, Capitals 3-2: The Bruins are back in it, as Nathan Horton blasts one home from the left circle for another power-play goal to pull Boston within a goal.
Bergeron and Lucic pick up the assists, while Washington coach Bruce Boudreau calls timeout to try to regroup his troops.
Third Period, 3:27, Capitals 3-1: The Bruins get another power-play chance as Thornton draws an interference call on John Erskine.
Third Period, 3:07, Capitals 3-1: The Bruins take advantage of the power play, with Michael Ryder scoring to get Boston on the board.
Ryder flipped in a backhander on a rebound at the right post to give the Bruins some life early in the third. Dennis Seidenberg and Tyler Seguin get the assists.
Third Period, 1:22, Capitals 3-0: The Bruins will get a power play after a brief strentch of 4-on-4 play as Jason Chimera is sent off for hooking early in the third.
Third Period, 0:00, Capitals 3-0: The third period is under way, and the Bruins have made a change in goal.
Tuukka Rask is in for Thomas. This is a move more to give the rest of the team a wake-up call and give Thomas a break, rather than any blame being put on Thomas for the Bruins' poor effort in the first two periods.
Second Intermission Notes: Inexcusable effort so far in this one for the Bruins, who haven't matched Washington's effort, intensity or skating in the first 40 minutes.
Tim Thomas has allowed three goals for the first time this season, but he's been left largely hung out to dry by the team in front of him.
Boston continues to be careless with the puck, as they've officially been charged with six giveaways, while Washington has been credited with 10 takeaways.
Shot totals can be deceiving at times, but the 25-9 edge for the Caps in this game clearly reflects the action on the ice. Just eight of the 18 skaters dressed for Boston have shots, and Shawn Thornton is the only Bruins with two shots on goal. The Bruins have had more shot attempts blocked (12) or miss the net (10) than they've put on Neuvirth.
It's a bad sign when the usually dependable Patrice Bergeron is a minus-2 after losing a defensive-zone draw to lead to one goal and losing a one-on-one battle with Semin to lead to a short-handed goal.
End Second Period, Capitals 3-0: This one has gotten away from the Bruins quickly, as they head into the second intermission facing a 3-0 deficit after Washington struck for three goals in the middle frame.
This one is far from over, but the Bruins will have to play far better in the third to have any chance of mounting a comeback in the third.
Second Period, 19:27, Capitals 3-0: Things are really getting ugly now, as Mark Stuart goes off for tripping Ovechkin on what would have been an offsides play anyway.
Second Period, 17:50, Capitals 3-0: The Bruins not only can't take advantage of the power play, they give up a short-handed goal.
Semin beats Bergeron to a loose puck outside the right point to start a 3-on-1 break, then works a give and go with Green and fires home the one-timer from the left circle.
Second Period, 16:52, Capitals 2-0: The Bruins finally get their first power play of the night as Ovechkin goes off for slashing.
Horton had a chance in close from Krejci just before the penalty in a rare offensive oppportunity for the Bruins in this one.
Second Period, 14:57, Capitals 2-0: The Bruins have managed just seven shots so far in this one, while Washington has 22.
After just three in the first, the Bruins have just four more in the second, while the Caps have ramped up their effort with 14 shots in the second after eight in the first.
Second Period, 11:53, Capitals 2-0: Thomas does it again, thwarting another 3-on-2 chance as the defensive breakdowns continue.
This time it was Washington's fourth line with the chance, as Hendricks was in alone down low, but Thomas dove to make the stop. Thomas then made a point-blank save on Steckel as he continues to be besieged by the Caps.
Second Period, 11:53, Capitals 2-0: The Caps nearly made it 3-0 there with a 3-on-2 rush with their top guns on the attack.
Semin and Ovechkin work a give and go and Semin nearly stuffs a bad-angle shot in at the left post from down low, but Thomas is up to the task.
Second Period, 10:32, Capitals 2-0: This isn't the same Bruins team we've seen through the first nine games, as the turnovers and sloppy play continue.
It's also not the same Capitals team we saw in the first two meetings, as Washington is playing with more confidence and speed as the Caps are starting to really take it to the Bruins.
Second Period, 7:35, Capitals 2-0: The Bruins are in trouble now, as Mike Green doubles the lead.
Green, playing his first game against Boston this year, takes the puck in from the right points, waits for Greg campbell to go down for the block and slide past, then picks the top near corner with a perfectly-placed shot.
Second Period, 5:55, Capitals 1-0: The Bruins' miscues continue, as Chara coughs up the puck behind the lead, forcing Thomas to make a stop at the right post.
Second Period, 4:35, Capitals 1-0: The Capitals are really carrying the play here in the second, but Thomas is keeping the Bruins in it.
The biggest stop came on a clean look from the right circle by Knuble.
Second Period, 0:59, Capitals 1-0: The Capitals strike first in the opening minute of the second on a Tyler Sloan blast from the right point.
Tomas Fleischmann set it up with a clean face-off win against Patrice Bergeron, and Sloan fired it through traffic in front of Thomas.
Second Period, 0:00, 0-0: The second period is under way, with the Bruins once again opening with the fourth line out opposite Ovechkin and Co.
Despite the disparity in talent, the Bruins' energy line has done a good job against Washington's stars.
First Intermission Notes: The Bruins and Caps are even after 20 minutes, and Boston should be very thankful for that.
The first period was one of the few poor periods the Bruins have turned in so far this season, as they were way too careless with the puck in their own zone. Officially, they were charged with four giveaways and Washington had six takeaways, but it seemed like the puck was changing hands in the Bruins' zone much more often than that.
In part because of those turnovers, the Bruins spent way too much time in their own zone, which was reflected by Washington's 8-3 edge in shots. Tim Thomas and the penalty kill came up big in the first, but Boston will need everyone to start contributing more over the final 40 minutes to pull this one out.
End First Period, 0-0: The Bruins will be happy to head into the first intermission in a scoreless draw, having weathered Wasington's early storm and despite some sloppy play on Boston's part.
Nathan Horton had a chance to actually put the Bruins ahead in the final minute, but misfired on his shot attempt off a feed from Jordan Caron.
First Period, 16:29, 0-0: The sloppiness continues, as another giveaway in the Bruins' zone gives Chimera a golden chance, but Thomas makes the save again.
Those giveaways will eventually catch up to the Bruins if they don't clean up their play, no matter how well Thomas is playing.
First Period, 15:24, 0-0: The gloves are off, as Adam McQuaid and Matt Hendricks go at it.
Greg Campbell won't be happy that McQuaid danced with his usual partner. McQuaid may have been upset with his own turnover earlier in the shift, which let to a Washington chance that got Ovechkin shaken up in a collision with Thomas. If Hendricks took exception to that, he picked the wrong guy to go after in McQuaid.
First Period, 13:20, 0-0: Impressive shift by Washington's Boyd Gordon, who forced a turnover with a hit on Mark Stuart, then had a scoring chance at the right post. The Caps are undefeated this year with Gordon in the lineup, and that shift showed some of the little things he does to help a team win.
First Period, 12:00, 0-0: Dangerous giveaway in front of the Boston net by Mark Recchi. Fortunately he put it on the stick of Matt Bradley, not Ovechkin, so no damage was done.
First Period, 10:49, 0-0: The Bruins were up to the challenge, successfully killing off both penalties to keep this one scoreless midway through the first.
Washington managed just two shots on the back-to-back power plays, which included a lengthy two-man advantage.
First Period, 8:49, 0-0: The Bruins are in deep trouble now, as the Caps will have almost a full minute of 5-on-3 play with Marchand sent off for tripping Mike Knuble.
First Period, 7:47, 0-0: The Bruins' top-ranked PK will get an early test against Washington's red-hot power play as Tyler Seguin is sent off for boarding David Steckel.
The Caps are 5 for 8 on the man-advantage in their last two games.
First Period, 6:47, 0-0: The Bruins get their first real good scoring chances, as David Krejci is stoned on a shot from the slot and Milan Lucic has a bid at the left post off a feed from Nathan Horton.
First Period, 5:49, 0-0: A lot of action back and forth early, but neither team has been able to penetrate the defense for shts on goal, until Chimera finally ends in a long shot that Thomas smothers for a whistle.
First Period, 1:35, 0-0: Thomas gave a goal to Jason Chimera in the last game with a giveaway, and he nearly did it again with a dangerous pass behind the net. No damage done this time, however.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: And they're under way at the Verizon Center, with the bruins' fourth line starting it off against Ovechkin and Co.
6:55 p.m.: No surprises in the lineups for this one, as Daniel Paille and Brian McGrattan are the healthy scratches once again for Boston, while Johnny Boychuk remains out with a fractured forearm.
For Washington, heavyweight D.J. King is the healthy scratch, while Marcus Johansson (hip) and Tom Poti (lower body) remain out injured.
Tim Thomas is starting in goal, opposite Michal Neuvirth for the Caps.
It will be an interesting matchup on the opening draw, as the Caps go with their reunited top line of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin up front and John Carlson and Karl Alzner on defense. The Bruins counter with the fourth line of Greg Campbell, Brad Marchand and Shawn Thornton, while Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg start on defense.
It will be interesting to see if Claude Julien keeps Chara and Seidenberg together as a shutdown pair against the Ovechkin line, or if he continues to rotate his defense pairings throughout the game. Since Boychuk was injured, Boston hasn't played with consistent pairs, instead mixing and matching throughout the game, but Chara and Seidenberg showed good chemistry together last year and could be needed together to shut down Washington's potent top line.
6 p.m.: The Bruins are just about ready to take on the Capitals in Washington.
No, this is not a recording. The Bruins and Caps will meet for the third time in Boston's first 10 games of the season.
That wasn't supposed to be good news for the Bruins, who managed just one win in four meetings with the Presidents' Trophy winners last year, and needed a shootout for that. But this year the Bruins have enjoyed playing the Caps, as they swept them in a home-and-home series last month.
But the Capitals will be out to avenge those losses, and they'll have defenseman Mike Green back in the lineup after he missed the previous two meetings with an upper-body injury. Of course, they'll still have to find a way to beat Tim Thomas, which no team has been able to do so far this year. Thomas is expected to start again in this one, while Washington will counter with NHL Rookie of the Month Michal Neuvirth.
Check out the Facing Off feature for a full breakdown of the matchup.
8 a.m.: The Bruins wrap up their three-game road trip with stop in Washington on Friday. That's been an unfriendly venue for visitors in recent memory, but it hasn't bothered the Bruins too much.
Washington was a league-best 30-5-3 at home last year, but the Bruins took the Caps to overtime before falling 3-2 on April 5 and won 4-3 in a shootout on April 11 in their two visits last year, then won 3-1 in Washington in the clubs' first meeting this season on Oct. 19. That was Washington's only home loss so far this season, as the Caps are 5-1-0 at the Verizon Center and 8-4-0 overall.
The Bruins also beat Washington 4-1 at the Garden on Oct. 21 to complete a sweep of a home-and-home series. Now they'd like to hand the reigning Presidents' Trophy winners a third loss on Friday extend their own overall winning streak to four games.
The puck drops at 7 p.m. in Washington, so check back here throughout the day for updates on all the action.
