The Boston Bruins weren’t able to end their losing streak to the Washington Capitals in a 5-3 defeat Thursday night at TD Garden, but the game didn’t lack historical significance for the Original Six club.
Bruins center Patrice Bergeron tied the score 1-1 on a second period power play with his second goal of the season, giving him 265 goals for his career. This tally put him ahead of Bruins legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Orr on the team’s all-time goals scored leaderboard.
Ironically, Orr notched his first ever hat trick on this day in 1968 in a 10-5 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Bergeron’s linemate Brad Marchand earned an assist on the goal, giving him 400 career points and extending his point streak to a career-high seven games. Marchand has posted 11 points (four goals, seven assists) during the streak.
Bergeron and Marchand, who scored two goals apiece in Boston’s Game 7 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, are two of the best Bruins player ever. You can bet there will be more milestones like these in store for each of them before their Bruins careers conclude.
Here are some other notes from Bruins vs. Capitals.
— The Bruins have lost 11 straight games to the Caps.
— Capitals improve to 14-0-1 when leading after the first period. Jakub Vrana scored with 2:26 left in the opening frame.
–Special teams played a major factor in the outcome. The Capitals went 2-for-5 on the power play and also scored a shorthanded goal, while the B’s went 1-for-4 with the man advantage.
–Bruins backup goalie Anton Khudobin got the start and gave up four goals on 21 shots for an .810 save percentage. Khudobin now has allowed four goals in back-to-back starts.
— Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby entered Thursday with stellar career numbers against the Bruins, most notably a 12-2-0 record and a .944 save percentage. He made some good saves Thursday, however he did allow three goals, including two in the final four minutes of the third period.
— Nicklas Backstrom scored his sixth goal of the season on a second-period power play. He now has 36 points in 33 career games versus the B’s, and Washington is 19-0-0 against Boston when the veteran center tallies at least one point. The goal also moved Backstrom into seventh place on the Capitals’ all-time leaderboard with 194.
