Nicklas Backstrom might have been the first star, but Evgeny Kuznetsov also had himself a heck of a game during the Caps’ 5-3 victory over the Boston Bruins. (Let’s just ignore his 30% corsi, which I’m going to blame on Jay Beagle.)
In the third period, Kuznetsov took over and put the game out of reach for the Boston Bruins. 3:29 into the stanza, Kuzy authored a beautiful carry-in which led to a Brett Connolly goal. The tally put the Caps up 4-2. Later, Kuzy put the figurative cherry on top after scoring his 11th goal of the season.
He saluted the crowd after the goal.
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Kuznetsov stays hot. Makes it 5-2 late in the third. #CapsBruins #RockTheRed pic.twitter.com/DzAaP2sLd3
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 2, 2017
The whole play was actually made possible by Tom Wilson, who caught a clearing attempt along the boards with his glove.
Willy Baby then shot a beautiful no-look pass to Kuznetsov, who released a beautiful wrist shot past Tuukka Rask. It would be Wilson’s tenth point of the season.
Kuznetsov celebrated the goal by peeling towards the glass and giving Caps fans a military salute.
The celly was reminiscent of Jaromir Jagr’s famous gesture, except the former Penguins star would usually take off his glove to do so.
Earlier Wednesday, Kuznetsov was named the NHL’s first star of the month for January. And now he’s off to a fantastic start of February.
