The Boston Bruins never led in their penultimate preseason game but showed tenacity as they battled back to tie the game four times before ultimately falling to the Washington Capitals 5-4 in overtime at TD Garden on Tuesday night.
The Bruins were outshot 40-20 in the contest and special teams factored into the loss. Boston failed to score on the man advantage and allowed Washington to capitalize on two of their three attempts on the power play.
Head coach Jim Montgomery said the team was careless with the puck in all three zones.
“We want to make plays every time we had the puck,” Montgomery told Andy Brickley on NESN’s postgame coverage. “We want to make finishing plays and sometimes you need to build a team game.”
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Despite losing their fourth straight preseason game, Montgomery did see some positives from the players.
“I liked how fast we played,” Montgomery said. “I didn’t like how we managed the game. I thought we gave up too many odd-man rushes and that’s because we’re trying to make too many home runs.”
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Here are more notes from Tuesday’s Bruins-Capitals game:
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— The Bruins honored Chris Snow, former New England Patriots tight end Russ Francis and former Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield before the game with a moment of silence.
— Milan Lucic made his preseason debut in Boston and rewarded the Bruins faithful with a goal and an assist in the game in 14:28 minutes of ice time. His first goal of the preseason came in the second period when he collected a pass from Jakub Lauko and let the shot go from the top of the faceoff circle. The puck deflected off Sonny Milano’s stick past Darcy Kuemper to knot the game at three.
Even more impressive was the cross-ice pass Lucic made to Mason Lohrei for his first goal of the preseason.
— Matthew Poitras continues to make decisions difficult for the Bruins and Montgomery. The 19-year-old prospect scored a third-period goal to tie the game at four and finished the night 58.8% in face-offs over 18:27 minutes of ice time.
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— James van Riemsdyk opened the scoring for the Black and Gold when his first-period tally tied the game at one just 53 seconds into the contest. The veteran forward won bragging rights over his younger brother Trevor, who was on the ice for Washington when the goal was scored.
— The Bruins will travel to the Big Apple to take on the New York Rangers in their final preseason tune-up on Thursday night. Puck drop from Madison Square Garden is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET and will be aired on TNT.
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Featured image via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
