Kelly beat Holtby on the far side, about hip high, on a nice feed from Pouliot.
End of regulation, 0-0: After 60 scoreless minutes, we're heading into overtime. On a school night.
Third Period, 15:00, 0-0: Chris Kelly just had the best chance of the frame, cutting through the crease but losing it at the last second.
Third Period, 14:13, 0-0: Seguin and Bergeron really picked things up in their last shift out and got the crowd back on its feet. Still scoreless, but it seems like the Black and Gold got Mr. Mo back on their side.
Third Period, 11:00, 0-0: Marchand put on a nice hustle clinic in his last shift and nearly drew a tripping or interference call as he stumbled over the Caps defender in the corner.
Third Period, 9:32, 0-0: Boychuk with a superb play in front of Thomas, swatting the puck away from a would-be open-net goal.
The playoffs are rough for everyone on the ice — refs included, as one member of the zebras got caught up along the boards and took a spill. He came up a little lame but he's a gamer.
Third Period, 8:00, 0-0: Crowd trying to rally up the B's with a booming "Let's go Bru-ins!" chant.
The B's are picking it up a little here as we head into the midway point of the frame but Holtby is standing strong.
Third Period, 6:00, 0-0: Krejci with a huge play in the defensive zone as he stuffs a Caps forward attempting the wrap-around. He had Thomas beat but Krejci was there to swat it away just in time.
Third Period, 4:30, 0-0: Thomas robs Ovechkin on the power play after Ovi had an open net on the left side after getting a perfect feed from the far point.
Thomas follows that up with two more head-standing saves to get the crowd amped. The B's are still being outplayed here in the final frame.
Third Period, 3:35, 0-0: B's are still dominating in the shots department but it sounds like the Caps had quite the locker room speech during the break because they've got all the momentum now three-plus minutes into the final frame.
Now Chara's going off for crosschecking.
Third Period, :57, 0-0: Hendricks rides Ference into Thomas after the whistle and his head fell off! OH wait, no, sorry, it was just his helmet.
But Ference snapped into action and gave him a few shivers to the neck in the corner.
Third Period, 0:00, 0-0: The final frame is under way here at the Garden. Well, it may not be the final frame. It will take somebody actually scoring to guarantee that, and no one has been able to do that yet in this one despite the Bruins dominating 26-7 in shots.
Second Intermission Notes: The Bruins continue to dominate the game, but not the scoreboard, in a trend that has to be a little worrisome at this point as young netminder Braden Holtby threatens to steal this one in his first playoff start.
The Bruins have a 26-7 edge in shots, including 17-2 in the second period. It took Washington nearly 10 minutes to put even one shot on Tim Thomas in the middle frame. Holtby, meanwhile, was besieged, but has stopped everything to reach him so far. He's been helped by the defense limiting how many pucks get to him, as Washington has 17 blocks to just eight for the Bruins.
Boston's late-season power-play struggles have carried over to the start of this series. The Bruins are 0 for 4 on the man advantage, including a four-minute power play and a 4-on-3 chance. They do have seven shots and have created some good looks, but frustration could become a problem if they don't break through soon.
The hitting continued in the second, with Washington now up 24-23 in that category. the stars have been involved plenty, with Alex Ovechkin leading the way with five hit. Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg each have four, many coming on Ovechkin, including a huge collision in front of the benches between Seidenberg and Ovechkin.
End Second Period, 0-0: Forty minutes are in the books and the Bruins have dominated the Caps, but can't solve Braden Holtby. It remains scoreless despite Boston's 26-7 edge in shots, including 17-2 in the middle frame.
Second Period, 18:35, 0-0: Marcus Johansson takes a puck right to the head/face region after a deflected shot from the point sneaks up on him.
Second Period, 15:55, 0-0: Peverley almost snuck a snipe in the near-side, top shelf but Holtby barely got a piece of his glove on it.
Pouliot was flying in his last shift, wouldn't be surprised if he's the one to break this deadlock.
Second Period, 14:18, 0-0: Bruins fans can smell a goal coming as the B's are laying it on now. A few nice chances from Peverley and Bergeron and Seguin last time out had Holtby scrambling.
Second Period, 12:42, 0-0: Holtby was still a little fired up as he takes his aggression out on Chris Kelly and gets the roughing call. It's now 4-on-3 due to the matching minors.
Second Period, 12:18, 0-0: Holtby and Krejci get into it after the whistle and the two squads unleash unpleasantries.
Since it was in the Caps zone, the B's defensemen were unable to partake so it looked like a few extra love taps from the Caps in that one.
John Carlson and Krejci both head to the box for roughing calls.
Playoff. Hockey.
Second Period, 11:32, 0-0: And Patrice Bergeron once again shows the hockey world just how great of a player he is. Bergy, without any options flying through the neutral zone, tossed in a perfectly placed cross-corner dumb to Seguin. After the winger got it knocked away, Bergeron was right there to pick the Caps' defenseman's pocket and feed a beauty to the front of the net for Marchand. Marshy was a littel handcuffed on the pass and was only able a decent shot on net.
Second Period, 8:49, 0-0: Rolston gives the B's their 19th shot of the night from a sharp angle on the left side. B's are really pouring it on and the crowd can feel it.
Second Period, 5:36, 0-0: Seidenberg gets the crowd on its feet with a monsterous hit on Ovechkin in front of the benches. The B's defenseman cleaned him out along the boards and sent him stumbling.
Second Period, 4:29, 0-0: The Bruins didn't create as many chances with that power play and the sides are now back to even strength. Boston leads 16-5 in shots, but it remains even on the scoreboard in a scoreless game.
Second Period, 2:29, 0-0: The Bruins couldn't convert the power play despite a ton of pressure and chances in the Washington zone, but they will stay on the man advantage as Troy Brouwer is called for delay of game for sending the puck over the glass just two seconds after the Caps got back to even strength.
Second Period, 0:00, 0-0: The middle frame is under way here at the Garden, where it remains scoreless, but the Bruins open the period with 2:27 left on their power play.
First Intermission Notes: The Bruins got the start they wanted with a strong opening period, though the effort has yet to produce a goal as the clubs are locked in a scoreless draw after 20 minutes.
Boston came out flying early, getting the first four shots of the game and finishing with a 9-5 edge in shots for the period. They tried to rattle young Braden Holtby in his first playoff start with some traffic and even the occasional extra jab after the whistle by Brad Marchand, but the rookie was up to the task early.
Tim Thomas hasn't been tested much at the other end, with the Bruins doing a good job of limiting Washington's chances.
Both sides have been physical, and it's been pretty even in that department as well, right down to a 14-14 deadlock in hits. Zdeno Chara and Shawn Thornton are leading the way with three each, while Alex Ovechkin has four for the Caps and Jason Chimera three. Chimera, whose hit on Adam mcQuaid on March 29 still has the Bruins defenseman sidelined, has been involved in plenty early. He and Chris Kelly were nose to nose for one heated discussion, while Milan Lucic gave Chimera a late shove, though that didn't work out too well for the Bruins with tthe stumbling Chimera then taking out both Andrew Ference and Thomas. Chara and Ovechkin have exchanged some big hits, with Chara also jawing with Troy Brouwer.
Johnny Boychuk played 6:12 and had a blocked shot in his return to the lineup. He appears OK out there in terms of mobility coming off his knee injury.
End First Period, 0-0: The opening frame is in the books, but both teams are still looking for their first goal of the postseason after a scoreless first.
First period, 18:32, 0-0: Beagle comes up high on Krejci for the high-sticking double-minor. B's on PP for four minutes.
First period, 16:45, 0-0: Chara lines up Ovechkin and gets about 70 percent of the speedy forward. Moments later, Ovechkin gets punished in the corner by Seidenberg. No. 8 won't have much breathing room this series.
First period, 14:20, 0-0: Paille and Campbell looking strong on the first half of the kill but the cheers are soon washed out by boos from the crowd … because Wideman was handling the puck.
Shots update: Bruins 9, Caps 4.
First period, 12:54, 0-0: Krejci hits old pal Dennis Wideman from behind and gets called for boarding.
First period, 10:19, 0-0: Chimera with a nifty deflection from the right side of Thomas that goes just wide. That was probably Washington's best scoring chance thus far. B's still outshooting Caps 6-3.
First period, 9:00, 0-0: Seguin just kicked it into high gear along the left wing and snapped a shot off. Bergeron had a nice rebound attempt but the puck was flopping around so he couldnt get good wood on it.
First period, 7:12, 0-0:A nice video tribute to the National Champion BC Eagles going on right now on the video board.
B's outshooting Caps 5-2.
First period, 3:05, 0-0: B's are outshooting the Caps 4-0.
First period, 1:33. 0-0: Pouliot with a nice tip in front, and nearly followed up with the rebound but two Caps defenders were able to knock him away.
First period, :59: A little scrum after the whistle and who else but Brad Marchand was in the middle of it.
7:30 p.m.: The Bruins will open the postseason with a bit of an unusual combination with Patrice Bergeron between Brad Marchand and David Krejci. Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk start on defnese, with Tim Thomas in goal.
The Capitals counter with Alex Ovechkin, Brooks Laich and Troy Brouwer up front, Karl Alzner and John Carlson on the blue line and Braden Holtby in net.
7:25 p.m.: The Bruins have made it official, Jordan Caron and Mike Mottau are the healthy scratches. Adam McQuaid and Tuukka Rask also remain out, with Anton Khudobin dressing as Tim Thomas' backup.
Former Bruin Mike Knuble, Jeff Halpern, Mattias Sjogren, Cody Eakin, Dmitry Orlov, John Erskine, Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth are out for Washington. Former Providence Bruin Dany Sabourin will back up Braden Holtby in goal.
7:15 p.m.: As Claude Julien promised this morning, the Bruins had 22 players on the ice for warm-ups, with one extra forward and one extra defenseman.
Based on the line rushes, it's Jordan Caron and Mike Mottau who will sit out for this one. They were passing the puck back and forth at center ice while the rest of the team went through the line rushes. That included Johnny Boychuk, who was paired with Andrew Ference and appears set to return from his knee injury.
The full combinations from the warm-up:
Lucic-Krejci-Peverley
Marchand-Bergeron-Seguin
Pouliot-Kelly-Rolston
Paille-Campbell-Thornton
Defense pairs:
Chara-Seidenberg
Ference-Boychuk
Zanon-Corvo
7 p.m.: The teams have taken the ice for warm-ups here at the Garden, with Tim Thomas and Braden Holtby leading the squads onto the ice.
That will be the veteran vs. youngster goalie matchup in Game 1 of this series.
6:30 p.m.: Stanley Cup action is just an hour away here at the Garden, where the Bruins will open their title defense against the Caps.
The lineup for Game 1 is still to be determined, with Claude Julien saying the Bruins will take warm-ups with one extra forward and one extra defenseman.
The extra defenseman won't be needed if Johnny Boychuk is ready to go. He is coming off a knee injury, but has practiced all week and is expected to play. Adam McQuaid (upper body) will not, putting Joe Corvo back in the lineup and Mike Mottau likely out.
Up front, Jordan Caron is the likely scratch, but the line rushes in the warm-ups will give a better indication of which way Julien will go there.
8 a.m. ET: The real fun is about to begin.
The 82-game preliminary slate to determine the seedings is in the rear-view mirror, and the real tournament is about to start.
Boston opens its defense of the Stanley Cup on Thursday at the Garden when the second-seeded Bruins host No. 7 Washington in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
The Bruins will be the favorites in this one. They're the reigning champs, with nearly their entire roster back from last spring's historic title run. They've shown it was no fluke by remaining among the elite in the NHL throughout the season, shaking off a sluggish start and a midseason malaise to finish with 49 wins and 102 points to win the Northeast Division and secure that No. 2 seed and home ice.
After last year, the Bruins understand what it takes to succeed in the postseason. They'll draw upon that experience and the confidence it has engendered, but they know they can't rest on their laurels and expect anything to come easy just because of their past success.
"We’re a team that lives in the present and not in the future, and we don’t live in the past," Bruins coach Claude Julien said after Wednesday's final practice before the start of the series. "Last year was last year, and in order for us to succeed this year, it’s important that we create that same excitement we had last year. So, it’s about recreating it, not about living in the past and saying, 'It’s going to be there, don’t worry, we’ve been there before, we know what’s going to happen.' You’ve got to recreate it, and the opportunity to do that is [Thursday], with having a good start and playing the way we know we can and feeling good about yourself."
The Bruins will be looking for a better start than last year's postseason, when they dropped both games at home to fall into an 0-2 hole against Montreal before rallying to squeak out that series in overtime in Game 7.
They will have to do it without the man who scored that OT winner, as Nathan Horton has been ruled out for the entire postseason with a concussion. Adam McQuaid (upper body) and Tuukka Rask (abdominal/groin) are expected to miss the start of the series as well, but Boston does hope to get Johnny Boychuk (knee) back.
The Capitals are expected to go with rookie goalie Braden Holtby since Tomas Vokoun (groin) and Michal Neuvirth (leg) are both banged up. Holtby only has to try to outduel last year's Vezina and Conn Smythe winner Tim Thomas in the Boston net.
The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. Tune in to NESN to watch the game, and stay with the NESN.com live blog, as we'll keep you up to speed on everything happening at the Garden.
