The Bruins have lost three games in a row just once all season, and that was all the way back in October. After back-to-back losses to Carolina and Pittsburgh at home, the Bruins made sure they didn't do it again with a solid effort in Washington.
The Bruins will now head back to Boston to cheer on the Pats in the Super Bowl from Tuukka Rask's house, and return to action Wednesday in Buffalo.
Third Period, 19:19, Bruins 4-1: The Bruins put this one away as Rich Peverley scores the empty-netter from Chris Kelly to extend the lead back to three in the closing seconds.
Third Period, 18:41, Bruins 3-1: The Capitals have pulled Vokoun for the extra attacker and use their timeout to try to draw up a miracle, needing two goals in the final 79 seconds.
Third Period, 15:30, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins can't convert, but they do take two more minutes off the clock as there is now less than five minutes to play in this one.
Third Period, 13:30, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins will have a chance to get that goal back as they go on the power play with Jason Chimera called for goalie interference.
Third Period, 12:04, Bruins 3-1: The Capitals finally break through, though it was actually a Bruin who appeared to get the first puck of the day past Thomas.
Marcus Johansson threw the puck across the crease looking for Joel Ward, but it deflected in off Dennis Seidenberg in front.
Third Period,11:20, Bruins 3-0: Ovechkin drives hard to the net, but can't get the puck past Thomas, though Ovechkin himself did end up in cage.
Third Period, 8:06, Bruins 3-0: Nasty looking scene as a Shawn Thornton shot is deflected by the stick of Roman Hamrlik up into the face of Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov. Orlov goes to the room bleeding heavily.
Third Period, 6:38, Bruins 3-0: The Bruins add a huge insurance goal as Tyler Seguin converts a beautiful feed from Brad Marchand.
Marchand deked around Marcus Johansson in the high slot and feed the puck down low to Seguin for the easy tap in.
Third Period, 5:54, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins with a 2-on-1 break with Rich Peverley and Chris Kelly on the rush. Peverley takes the puck down the right wing and keeps it for the shot, but Vokoun makes the save. Dennis Wideman then with a bit of a late hit on Kelly sending him into the boards behind the net.
Third Period, 1:53, Bruins 2-0: The Capitals come within inches of cutting the deficit in half as Mathieu Perreault, who had a hat trick in the last game against Boston, clangs a shot off the post.
Third Period, 0:20, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins kill off the remainder of that penalty and Bergeron exits the box as the teams return to even strength.
Third Period, 0:00, Bruins 2-0: The final frame is under way, with the Bruins looking to close out this win and snap their two-game losing streak. They will have to kill off the rest of Bergeron's penalty first though.
Second Intermission Notes: The Bruins have put together a solid road game so far, grabbing an early lead and maintaining it through two periods. Now they just need to avoid the kind of lapses that have plagued them of late and close out this one to end their losing streak at two games.
The shots are now even at 21-21, but the Bruins have had almost as many shots blocked as they have had on net. Washington has a 20-4 advantage in blocked shots, with Karl Alzner leading the way with nine. Fortunately for the Bruins, Tim Thomas has been on his game in this one and has stopped all 21 shots he's faced.
The Bruins are dominating the draws again, winning 67 percent of the faceoffs (28-14). Patrice Bergeron leads the way there as usual at 10-5, while Chris Kelly is 4-1. The Bruins also have a 16-12 edge in hits, though Alex Ovechkin has half of Washington's hits with six, to go with four shots.
End Second Period, Bruins 2-0: The first 40 minutes are in the books and the Bruins retain their two-goal lead after a scoreless second period.
Second Period, 18:20, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins will be shorthanded for the first time in this one and will be without one of their top penalty killers as Patrice Bergeron is called for interference.
Second Period, 15:42, Bruins 2-0: Chara launches a blast with a one-timer from the right circle. Vokoun makes the stop, but has to take a minute as he gets checked out before continuing in the game.
Second Period, 14:40, Bruins 2-0: Brooks Laich tried to skate during the TV timeout, but went back to the locker room after a quick spin on the ice.
Second Period, 12:04, Bruins 2-0: Both sides have taken hits, though the Caps look to have gotten the worse. Brooks Laich went to the room with an apparent leg injury after a hit from Dennis Seidenberg. Chris Kelly was also shaken up from a hit by Ovechkin.
Second Period, 11:22, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins get caught in a change and Keith Aucoin takes advantage with a partial break, but he can't cash in on the opportunity.
Second Period, 9:06, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins can't convert that power-play chance, though Lucic nearly had his second goal of the night with a bid at the left post.
Second Period, 7:06, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins will get another power-play opportunity as Alexander Semin is sent to the box for hooking.
Second Period, 6:58, Bruins 2-0: Zdeno Chara with the big hit standing up Ovechkin as the two captains collide in the Boston zone.
Second Period, 5:40, Bruins 2-0: The scoring chances have slowed a bit in the second, though Thomas has been called upon to make a couple big stops early in this frame as the Bruins maintain their two-goal advantage.
Second Period, 0:46, Bruins 2-0: The Capitals kill off the rest of Matt Hendricks' extra minor from his fight with Adam McQuaid and the sides are back at even strength.
Second Period, 0:00, Bruins 2-0: The middle frame is under way in Washington, where the Bruins open on the power play as they try to extend their two-goal lead.
First Intermission Notes: The Bruins got off to a much stronger start and converted the chances their effort created for a 2-0 lead.
Boston has a 12-11 edge in shots, but that could be a far greater disparity if the Bruins could get more shots through the Caps defense. Washington has 10 blocked shots to just one for Boston, with Karl Alzner having five.
Jordan Caron has been solid in his return to the lineup, with three shots and one hit in 3:10. He's used his size well and been a much more noticeable presence than Zach Hamill was in recent games. Tyler Seguin has been active as well with four shots, while Johnny Boychuk has provided some strong physical play with three hits, including a beauty on Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin has dished it out as well, with three hits of his own to go with three shots.
End First Period, Bruins 2-0: The first 20 minutes are in the books, and the Bruins have to be pleased with that frame. They have put together a much better effort so far and have a 2-0 lead to show for it.
First Period, 18:46, Bruins 2-0: The gloves come off as Matt Hendricks tries to spark the Caps by taking on Adam McQuaid. McQuaid got the better of the punches, while Hendricks scored the takedown. The Bruins get a power play out of it as Hendricks gets an extra minor for roughing.
First Period, 18:38, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins double the lead as Brad Marchand bangs on in at the left post.
Patrice Bergeron won a battle behind the net and the puck popped up to marchand, who quickly flipped in a backhander for the goal.
First Period, 17:32, Bruins 1-0: The Caps continue to pressure, with Alexander Semin breaking in alone off a feed from Ovechkin, but Thomas stops the backhand attempt at the left post.
First Period, 16:59, Bruins 1-0: The first bit of nastiness on display as Adam McQuaid and Jason Chimera exchange shoves behind the net after the whistle. that whistle came after Thomas had to make a tough save on a snap shot by Dennis Wideman.
First Period, 13:28, Bruins 1-0: The Capitals are starting to surge back, but Thomas comes up with big stops on Marcus Johnasson, then on the rebound attempt by Alex Ovechkin.
First Period, 10:45, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins strike first as Milan Lucic finishes a nice rush for the game's first goal.
Rich Peverley and Lucic broke out 2 on 2, with Peverley threading a pass down low to Lucic, who got behind the defense. Lucic cut across the top of the crease and roofed a shot at the left post.
First Period, 8:55, 0-0: The Bruins are struggling to get their shots through the Washington defense early. They have three shots on net, but nine others have been blocked, five by Karl Alzner.
First Period, 5:15, 0-0: The Bruins have opened the game with one fairly significant tweak to the lines. Chris Kelly is up between Milan Lucic and Rich Peverley, while David Krejci has been dropped to the third line between Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron.
First Period, 2:20, 0-0: Strong start for the Bruins, with Boston keeping the play in the Washington end early and creating several scoring chances. The bets so far came from Johnny Boychuk, who pinched in deep for a bid in front.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: This one is under way in Washington, where the Bruins will look to snap out of their recent funk and avoid losing three straight games for just the second time this season.
12:30 p.m.: The Bruins will open with Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin up front, Andrew Ference and Adam McQuaid on defense and Tim Thomas in goal.
The Capitals counter with Matt Hendricks, Brooks Laich and Troy Brouwer up front, Karl Alzner and John Carlson on the blue line and Tomas Vokoun in net.
12:25 p.m.: The Bruins have officially scratched Zach Hamill, along with Steven Kampfer and Nathan Horton (concussion). Jordan Caron does return to the lineup.
John Erksine and Jay Beagle are out for Washington.
12:15 p.m.: Based on warm-ups, it appears that Jordan Caron will return to the lineup for this one, replacing Zach Hamill on the third line.
Caron skated on the right side of that line with Benoit Pouliot and Chris Kelly in warm-ups. The rest of the line combinations remain unchanged.
12 p.m.: In a little bit of a surprise, Tim Thomas leads the Bruins out for warm-ups in Washington.
That's only surprised because the Bruins are playing on back-to-back days and the club usually splits the goaltending duties in such scenarios. Thomas started saturday against Pittsburgh and will get the nod again.
Tomas Vokoun gets the nod for Washington.
11:45 a.m.: The Bruins haven't lost three games in a row since October, but will need to beat the Capitals to avoid another three-game skid.
THey have to face Alex Ovechkin this time though. Ovechkin wa suspended during the Bruins last visit to Washington, when the Caps won 5-3 on Jan. 24. He returned Saturday in Montreal and will be back on the top line again for this one.
8 a.m. ET: There's more than one game being played on Sunday.
And while the Bruins' matchup with the Capitals doesn't quite have as much at stake as the Patriots' super showdown with the Giants in Indianapolis, it is an important contest for the B's.
Boston fell to Pittsburgh 2-1 on Saturday. The Bruins have now lost back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 6 and 8, and are just 4-5-1 in their last 10 games.
Washington, meanwhile, beat Montreal 3-0 on Saturday. Alex Ovechkin returned from a three-game suspension in that game, but did not factor in the scoring. Instead, former Bruin Dennis Wideman scored his 10th goal of the season and Alexander Semin had a goal and an assist. That was more than enough support for Tomas Vokoun, who posted the 30-save shutout in net.
Tim Thomas made 26 saves in Saturday's defeat, but Tuukka Rask will likely get the start in this one with the Bruins playing on consecutive days. Rask is 11-6-2 overall with a 1.88 GAA and .936 save percentage this season, but gave up four goals in a 5-3 loss in the Bruins' last visit to Washington on Jan. 24.
The puck drops at 12:30 p.m., so check back here for updates on all the action.
