The Boston Bruins didn’t play well enough to win Game 1 of their Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series vs. the Washington Capitals. But they didn’t get much luck, either.
Nic Dowd was credited with the overtime game-winner, when he deflected T.J. Oshie’s shot in front of Tuukka Rask. To say the puck had eyes would be an understatement, but it eventually found the back of the net to give Washington a 3-2 overtime win and allowed the Caps to take the 1-0 series lead.
“Just a one-timer from the blue line there,” Rask said after the game. “I think it was going over my head or at my head or something, and it hit a stick, hit my chest, and somehow ended up in the net. I think I probably bumped it into my own net. I didn’t see the replay, but that’s what I would guess.”
In that regard, it was a frustrating night for the Bruins. All three of the Capitals’ goals were either deflected or took peculiar bounces. The Capitals, to their credit, were able to get just enough bodies to the front and that ultimately made the difference.
“I think all the goals hit a stick,” Rask added. “That’s how it goes sometimes. I think goalies in general in this league are really good, so it’s a tough to beat them with direct shots — you’re going to need some screens and directions, and they had three of them. It’s hockey. But I guess tough luck on me.”
Here are more Game 1 notes.
— The Bruins got a scare midway through the second period. NBC reported Patrice Bergeron went down the tunnel, and the reason was unclear. Bergeron ended up missing more than four minutes of game action before ultimately returning to the ice.
— Bergeron ended the night logging just over 21 minutes, so it clearly wasn’t a major issue. He was dominant in the faceoff circle, winning 14 of 22 draws, as the B’s won 60 percent of the faceoffs on the night.
— That dot dominance did not pay dividends, though. The Bruins were only able to get 26 of their 58 shot attempts on goal. When they got shots to the net, it was often too easy for Vitek Vanecek, and when he left, Craig Anderson. It was an uneven, relatively disjointed offensive performance for the Black and Gold.
“I don’t think we attacked them well enough,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I don’t think we were willing to drive wide, turn up and support pucks. I thought our O-zone spacing, our forward wasn’t high enough to stretch them out a little to use your skill and foot speed.
” … We had pockets of (those plays) but not enough.”
— All the credit in the world to Anderson, who came off the bench cold when Vanecek went down in the first period after Jake DeBrusk score the first Boston goal. The former Ottawa Senators goalie stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced, but Boston didn’t make it nearly hard enough on him.
— Speaking of DeBrusk, he had an excellent game. In addition to the goal, he was engaged in all three zones. He also made — at the time — a potential game-saving play when he sprinted back into the defensive zone on the backcheck to get just enough stick to disrupt John Carlson’s shot attempt on a Washington 3-on-1.
— Another relative bright spot: the play of Taylor Hall, who was solid in his first playoff game as a Bruin. The speedy forward used his agility and maneuverability on zone entries to draw two Washington penalties. He also seemed more than willing to mix it up in the corners and dirty areas and even was seen giving Michael Raffl a face full of glove as the two went to their respective benches at the end of a shift in the third.
— There was a lot of talk about the physicality this series could feature. The Caps certainly put an emphasis on taking the body early, outhitting Boston 5-0 in the opening minutes. That was highlighted Alex Ovechkin completely cleaning out David Krejci in the Boston zone moments into the game. That said, it was a fairly clean game. Washington outhit the B’s 51-41.
— The Bruins get their chance to even the series Monday night with Game 2 in Washington at 7:30 p.m. ET. You can watch the game on NESN, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30.
