Bruins Wrap: Craig Smith Gives Boston 2-1 Series Lead With 2OT Win Vs. Capitals

For the third consecutive time this series, the Boston Bruins and Bruins Capitals needed at least overtime to decide the winner of their game.

And for the second time this series, it was Boston that came out on top in a 3-2 double-OT victory thanks to Craig Smith.

Taylor Hall, Brad Marchand and Smith scored for the Bruins, while Alex Ovechkin and Nic Dowd had the tallies for the Capitals.

The Bruins went up 2-1 in the series with the win.

Here’s how it all went down:

Zdeno Chara Trucked By Teammates Before Bruins-Capitals Game 3

May 19, 2021

PENALTIES GALORE
The Bruins and Capitals exchanged a slew of penalties in a penalty-filled, fast-paced first period.

Boston killed three penalties and had two power plays and a 5-on-3 in the opening 20 minutes. The B’s had their best chances on the 5-on-3 with some incredible puck movement, but just couldn’t get the puck past Ilya Samsonov. It wasn’t for lack of effort, though, as the power play unit were taking shots and putting pucks on net.

Despite good energy and scoring opportunities, the score remained 0-0 after one period of play. The Bruins outshot the Caps 10-4.

CAPS UP ONE
A bad unsportsmanlike penalty taken by Brad Marchand led to a Caps goal on the power play.

A mishandled puck and a breakup play by Charlie Coyle on the Capitals power play led to a prime scoring chance for Sean Kuraly, but a save from Samsonov kept the game scoreless before Anthony Mantha stole the puck from Charlie McAvoy and fed Ovechkin for the 1-0 lead.

But then Hall took an insane no-look pass from Craig Smith before going top-shelf on Samsonov to make this a 1-1 game.

Things got a little chippy in Rask’s crease when his helmet got ripped off and he proceeded to throw at least four punches on Garnet Hathaway.

But the game was tied no more with just over two minutes left in the period when Dowd, who left earlier after blocking a shot and being in some serious pain, got ahead of everyone after a play at the blue line left the Bruins unable to handle it.

Rask made a big stop before the buzzer sounded to keep it a one-goal game. The Bruins held a slim 21-20 shot advantage at the end of 40 minutes.

TO OVERTIME WE GO (FOR THE THIRD TIME)
After a fourth unsuccessful power play, the Bruins finally figured it out on the fifth try.

Marchand hammered it home after staying net-front and never giving up on the puck and putting it in the net out of mid-air.

Boston nearly went down again with under five minutes to go after some careless, passive play Washington took advantage of, but the puck rang off the post.

The Capitals put immense pressure on Rask in the final minute of the period, but this one, just like the previous two, needed overtime to decide the winner.

EXTRA 20 STILL NOT ENOUGH
The Bruins came out firing on all cylinders, but neither team could claim Game 3 with an extra 20 minutes.

So, 20 more was added to the clock.

The Bruins outshot the Capitals by a whopping 17-5 margin in the overtime period, and 41-34 through 80 minutes.

BRUINS UP 2-1
David Pastrnak scared all of TD Garden when he went awkwardly into the boards after putting on a shot on net. He took a few minutes to get up and was able to skate to the bench under his own power.

But it was Smith who ended it after he stole the puck from Justin Schutltz, buried it by Samsonov and gave the B’s a 2-1 series lead.

UP NEXT
Game 4 is set for Friday night at TD Garden. Puck drop is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on NESN, with pregame beginning at 5:30 p.m.