The Washington Capitals halted their three-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the lowly Boston Bruins. The Bruins are now the worst team in the Eastern Conference after losing their last six games and nine of their last 10.
Not the prettiest win in the world, but we got a Ryan Leonard debut and an Alex Ovechkin goal. I think you’ll take that.
- The Capitals played a pretty fantastic game at five-on-five…if you just ignore the entire second period. In the second, the Caps let the terrible Bruins out-attempt them 18-8, out-chance them 9-4, and didn’t record a single high-danger chance. Spencer Carbery was rightfully upset, but his team did respond well in the final frame, recording 14 of their 25 total five-on-five shots.
- Alex Ovechkin scored his 891st goal on a power play in the first period. He is now just four goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky for sole possession of the NHL’s all-time goals record. With the goal, he also passed Gordie Howe (778) for the eighth-most road points in NHL history.
- Ryan Leonard had a quiet debut on the stat sheet, but I still think he had a very encouraging first game overall. He skated 14:13 of ice time and threw three hits, one huge one on Jeffrey Viel. I loved his shift right before Dylan Strome’s goal. He showcased the away-from-the-puck drive and battle that make him a special player.
- Dylan McIlrath got into a marathon fight, and the Caps were up 8-7 in five-on-five shot attempts during his minutes in his first real game in four months. That’s about all you can ask from him after sitting out for so long. The only real negative was the cross-checking penalty he took.
- Charlie Lindgren made 21 saves in his 17th win of the season, improving his record to 17-12-3. Per MoneyPuck, he allowed 0.51 more goals than expected, but I was fine with his night.
- Aliaksei Protas grabbed an assist on Strome’s goal, his 60th even-strength point of the year. Per the Caps, he’s the first Capital to record 60 even-strength points in a season since Ovechkin (60) in 2021-22.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-Reference, NaturalStatTrick, and HockeyStatCards.
