Bruins Wrap: Six Unanswered Goals Power Comeback Win Over Capitals

If you turned off the Bruins game when they trailed 2-0 early in the first period, you missed out on quite the treat. Boston used a four-goal second period to finish off six unanswered goals in a 7-3 defeat of the Washington Capitals on Monday in Washington, D.C.

The Bruins improved to 19-11-2 while Washington dropped to 20-8-9.

You can view the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Is it enough to just point you toward that box score we just linked?

The Bruins were down 2-0 but found some life and went into the first intermission at 2-2. But that was just the start. Boston scored six (!) unanswered goals in the time spanning the final two minutes of the first period and 13 minutes into the second. And everybody got involved, from David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand down to Matt Grzelcyk and Urho Vaakanainen.

Washington started the night with Zach Fucale between the pipes, but opted to switch to Vitek Vanecek following the Bruins’ fourth goal. Yeah, that didn’t make too much of a difference as the onslaught continued.

Boston is 5-1 in its last six games and has outscored opponents a whopping 28-15 in that span. Not a bad start to 2022.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Brad Marchand scored the equalizer at the end of the first period — minutes after his face was bloodied in a run-in with Nic Dowd, who earned double minors for high sticking and roughing. Those penalities, combined with a cross-checking call on John Carlson, cleared the way for the 5-on-3 that allowed Pastrnak to get the Bruins on the board before Marchand’s shot.

Both Pastrnak and Marchand scored again later in the game.

— Matt Grzelcyk may have had a costly turnover in the first period, which led to Sheary’s second goal of the night, but he more than made up for it. After logging assists on both of Boston’s first-period goals, Grzelcyk scored what was then the go-ahead goal for the Bruins. He picked up one more assist on the night.

— Conor Sheary, who is from Winchester, Mass. and played collegiately at Massachusetts, scored both goals for the Capitals. He now has scored eight goals in 25 games against his hometown team, tied for most goals from him against any team, according to Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press.

WAGER WATCH
The Bruins were given -105 odds to come away with the victory, via DraftKings Sportsbook. With that line, it would have taken a $105 bet to win $100. With the Capitals at -115 on the money line, it basically was a toss-up.

In this one, the money clearly was made from those who took the Over 6 for total goals scored. That was +100 via DraftKings, so a $100 bet would have doubled.

UP NEXT ON NESN
The Bruins return home to host the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The game originally was scheduled to take place in Canada, but the NHL rescheduled it amid attendance restrictions in the country. TNT will have coverage. The Bruins also host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, with the game airing on ESPN.

You can watch the Bruins on NESN — as well as an hour of pregame and postgame coverage — on Thursday when they host the Nashville Predators at 1 p.m. on Saturday.