Bruins Wrap: Boston Squanders Early Lead, Falls To Capitals 4-3 In Shootout

The streak lives on.

An early lead wasn’t enough for the Boston Bruins to snap their 11-game losing streak to the Washington Capitals, who made it 12 games in a row Thursday with a 4-3 shootout win at Capital One Arena.

Alex Ovechkin was the only skater who scored in the shootout, hitting his attempt in the third round.

Boston got off to a quality start, with David Backes and Noel Acciari each potting goals in the first 2:12. Washington, however, added a pair a period later with Lars Eller and Ovechkin scoring within 1:36 of each other.

Backes added his second goal at 7:19 in the final frame to put the Bruins ahead, but Brett Connolly answered just four minutes later.

Anton Khudobin made 31 saves in the loss.

With the loss, the Bruins gained a point but fell to 20-10-6, while the Capitals climbed to 23-13-3 with the win.

Here’s how it all went down:

BRUINS COME OUT FIRING
With the current state of the Caps — who had gotten shutout in their previous two games — there was no better time than early for the Bruins to strike. And just 1:23 into the game, Backes lit the lamp on a beautiful snap from a Riley Nash pass behind the net.

The Capitals had little time to recover from the shock of Backes’ goal, however, as just 49 seconds later, nice puck work from Acciari along the boards gave him a quality chance in front of the net, which he used to put the B’s up a pair after collecting his own rebound.

The rest of the period provided no shortage of intrigue.

After Brooks Orpik delivered a big hit in neutral ice on Tim Schaller, Sean Kuraly skated over to his teammate’s defense and recorded his first career fighting major. Orpik visibly didn’t care to fight, and the result showed, with the two mainly just wrapping one another up, with a couple punches getting thrown toward the end.

CAPS CONTROL THE SECOND
The Bruins found themselves on the receiving end of an offensive outburst in the second period.

After a quality transition out of the defensive end, Eller got the puck in the high slot at 12:31 and ripped it right past Khudobin.

The goal ended the Capitals’ scoreless streak at 177:32, which was just 3:44 away from setting the franchise record.

Just 1:36 later, the lead that had felt so comfortable for the Bruins slipped away thanks to a beauty of a slap shot from Ovechkin.

CHANCES TRADED IN THIRD
With both sides having little room for error in the third, it was the Bruins’ aggressiveness on the forecheck that allowed for their third goal.

Four rookies and Backes were on the ice for the goal.

But an onslaught of pressure would again allow the Capitals to equalize, with Connolly getting a messy goal in front of the net.

The play was reviewed to see if Eller had brought the puck offside at the blue line, but the goal –which was originally awarded to Tom Wilson — was upheld.

NEITHER TEAM ENDS IT IN 3-ON-3
As is usually the case 3-on-3 hockey, there was no shortage of opportunities from either side, but none good enough for either team to cash in and end it.

OVECHKIN WINS IT
The only tally from the shootout came from Ovechkin, who hit his shot in the third round.

UP NEXT
The Bruins will continue their road trip on Saturday in Ottawa against the Senators. Puck drop from Canadian Tire Centre is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.