Bruins Look To Bounce Back Against Desperate Capitals

The Boston Bruins will look to bounce back from their 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning when they face the Washington Capitals on Saturday.

The two teams have met once this season with the Capitals defeating Boston 3-0 on Feb. 10. That loss was the first of four straight for the Bruins, their longest losing streak of the season.

“They embarrassed us on our home ice,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery told reporters, per team-provided video. “What we learned is it’s a team that’s really committed to checking. It’s a team that plays the right way and it’s a team that we better be ready to go if we want to have a chance of success.”

While the Bruins have already punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Capitals are still battling for their spot. Washington holds the second-wild-card spot in the East, trailing the Philadelphia Flyers by one point in the Metropolitan Division.

“(The Capitals are) a real good team in the sense that they’ve really figured out how to win close games,” Montgomery said. “They don’t beat themselves. They’re well-coached. I think the coach (Spencer Carbery) there has done a great job in getting them to believe in a defense-first approach and they really clog the middle of the ice.”

Kevin Shattenkirk is returning to the lineup after being a healthy scratch in the last three games and knows the Bruins have a challenge ahead of them for the remainder of the season.

“We’re playing some great teams down the stretch, a team like Washington is fighting for their lives to get in,” Shattenkirk told reporters, per team-provided video. “It forces us to kind of match the desperation given the chance that we’ve already clinched. There’s still work to do. I think we’re all taking that challenge and remembering that we need to be ready to go once playoffs start.”

Shattenkirk will be paired with Andrew Peeke against the Capitals. Matt Grzelcyk is slated to skate alongside Brandon Carlo, while Hampus Lindholm moves up to skate with Charlie McAvoy.

“Washington’s got a big, heavy line,” Montgomery said. “(TJ) Oshie and (Alex) Ovechkin on one line. We’ll see how our top two (defensemen) handle getting out there against them.

“We’ve done it a couple of times earlier in the year against certain teams and we want to see what it looks like again because (McAvoy and Lindholm) don’t get enough reps together and they’re always out there at the end of games…the more opportunities they get to play with each other, the better they are in those situations.”

Puck drop from Capital One Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game on NESN following an hour of pregame coverage.