The Washington Capitals lost their season opener to the Boston Bruins 5-2 on Wednesday.
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, who had scored 13 goals in his previous 17 Home Openers, was held off the scoresheet but did have three shots and nine hits.
The Capitals, after falling behind 3-0, scored two consecutive goals in the second period after great defensive plays by Dylan Strome and Conor Sheary. Anthony Mantha potted a two-on-one goal and Sheary finished his own jailbreak.
The Caps, however, were unable complete the comeback in the third period despite putting a lot of shots on the B’s. The Bruins potted a fourth goal with 3:53 remaining and Hampus Lindholm sealed it with an empty netter.
Darcy Kuemper had an .862 save percentage in his Capitals debut and surrendered a soft five-hole goal to David Pastrnak in the first period.
Pastrnak led all players with four points (1g, 3a) while David Krecji had three (1g, 2a). Martin Fehervary had a game-high 10 hits.
The Capitals will next take on the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday night north of the border. Ilya Samsonov will make the start against his former mates.
