The Boston Bruins fought and grit their way to a narrow 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night in Washington, DC.
Jeremy Swayman led the way with a total lights-out performance in the first game of the year, turning aside 35 shots and only allowing one goal. 17 of those saves came in a second period where the Capitals dominated.
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Offensively, Boston’s superstar David Pastrnak led the way with one goal and two primary assists. His linemates Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie scored the other tallies, with Geekie’s coming by way of an empty cage.
Bruins Head Coach Marco Sturm also earned his first career victory as a head coach in the NHL with the win.
All around, it was the exact type of win the entire Bruins organization called for. B’s President Cam Neely specifically said they expect to be very hard to play against, and that’s what the stingy Bruins were tonight.
The penalty kill went 5/5, with Swayman helping in a big way. It wasn’t pretty, but Boston got the job done.
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During that second period Capitals swarm, it was Pastrnak who put Boston ahead.
Just a perfect net-seeking shot that found its way home from Pastrnak. To nobody’s surprise, he showed off his quick release and precision accuracy as the puck weaved through a crowd of bodies en route to the back of the net.
From there, Washington went into overdrive to try and tie the game, but Swayman stood tall, all until a fluky bounce and a blown defensive assignment from Viktor Arvidsson led to a puck landing on Tom Wilson’s stick, who buried the equalizer with 12:57 to go in the third period.
15 seconds later, the Capitals took a penalty and put Boston on the man advantage. From there, the Bruins did the thing that happened to them all the time last season– scoring a goal within the next minute of the opponent doing.
Elias Lindholm buried the power play goal, but the play is made by Pastrnak. The body fake and head fake had everyone in red biting, leading to the golden chance for Lindholm.
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Rightfully so, most of the attention goes to the play made by #88. However, he doesn’t even get a chance to do that if Pavel Zacha doesn’t hit him with one of the best stretch passes possible. Just a perfect play by Zacha on a man advantage breakout, something Sturm had Boston work on.
Finally, as the Capitals pushed into the final minute, the Bruins iced the game.
The top line steals the show again. Elias Lindholm with a solid face-off win, Pastrnak a heads-up play to spring Geekie, who made no mistake.
Boston’s next game is tomorrow night in their 2025-26 TD Garden debut, as they host the Chicago Blackhawks.
