Boston Bruins fans might want to circle Nov. 5 on their calendars. After the display the Bruins and Washington Capitals just put on, the teams’ first matchup of the regular season could be a very entertaining one.
The Bruins wrapped up their preseason schedule Friday night by falling to the Capitals in a highly physical game that featured more fights than goals. Loui Eriksson provided the lone goal for Boston, and Washington got a late score from Alexander Ovechkin en route to a 2-1 shootout win.
FIRST PERIOD
The opening frame featured just 12 total shots on goal, but one produced the game’s first goal.
Patrice Bergeron controlled the puck along the side boards and fed it in front to a wide-open Eriksson. Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer denied Eriksson’s initial bid, but the winger hammered the rebound into the net to put the Bruins up 1-0.
What the period lacked in offense, it made up for it in fisticuffs. Two fights broke out over the final five minutes of the first, with Boston’s Tyler Randell dropping Liam O’Brien in a matter of seconds and Capitals winger Tom Wilson later putting a hurting on Kevan Miller.
It was the third bout of the preseason for Randell, who is seeking a spot on the Bruins’ fourth line. Friday was his final audition, as fellow fourth-line hopefuls Zac Rinaldo and Max Talbot both did not suit up.
Miller had not dropped the gloves since last October, when he suffered a dislocated shoulder in a fight with Buffalo Sabres forward Nicolas Deslauriers. That injury sidelined the defenseman for more than a month, and a reaggravation of it in February ended his season.
SECOND PERIOD
Tuukka Rask was sharp throughout the night in his second appearance of the preseason.
The veteran goaltender helped kill off three Bruins penalties in the second period alone and foiled a number of grade-A Capitals scoring chances, including one on a shorthanded breakaway by Justin Williams.
Washington ratcheted up the intensity in the second, outshooting Boston 10-5 in the frame. Rask withstood the charge, saving all 15 shots he faced, before giving way to backup Jeremy Smith to begin the third.
THIRD PERIOD
After a relatively amicable second period, the game morphed back into Fight Night in the third.
First, it was Adam McQuaid taking offense to a big, possibly late hit from Capitals forward T.J. Oshie.
Oshie is known much more for his goal-scoring than his punch-throwing — he’d dropped the gloves just three times in his career entering Friday, per HockeyFights.com — but he accepted McQuaid’s challenge. The former Team USA hero held his own for close to 20 seconds before a hard right from the 6-foot-4 D-man ultimately did him in.
McQuaid was assessed an additional minor penalty for instigating the scrap.
A mere 15 seconds later, it was time for Round 2 of Miller vs. Wilson. The Bruins defenseman fared much better this time around, overwhelming Wilson to win a spirited scuffle.
The beef didn’t end there, though, as all four players proceeded to scream at one another as they served their respective five-minute majors.
The Capitals finally got on the board when Ovechkin put one past Smith with less than three minutes to play in regulation, sending the game to overtime.
OVERTIME
The Bruins earned 1:04 of 4-on-3 power-play time when Jay Beagle was whistled for hooking on David Krejci, but neither team scored in the five-minute extra session.
Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov both scored for Washington in the shootout, and Braden Holtby turned aside attempts by Ryan Spooner and David Krejci to seal the win.
UP NEXT
It’s time for some real, actual, regular-season hockey. The Bruins will host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday in their season opener.
Thumbnail photo via Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports Images
