Washington Capitals Shut Down Boston Bruins, 2-0, Two Points Away From Postseason Berth

Photo by John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins by a score of 2-0 on Monday night in their final home game of the 2023-24 regular-season. The win lifted Washington, who could clinch the second-wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with a win at the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, to 39-31-11 (.549 points percentage) this season. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 16 saves in his sixth shutout of the year, including second against Boston.

Washington’s Lines

Alex Ovechkin — Connor McMichael — T.J. Oshie
Aliaksei Protas – Dylan Strome – Tom Wilson
Max Pacioretty — Hendrix Lapierre — Sonny Milano
Beck Malenstyn — Nic Dowd — Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Martin Fehervary — John Carlson
Alexander Alexeyev — Dylan McIlrath
Trevor Van Riemsdyk – Vincent Iorio

Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper

Scratched: RW Ivan Miroshnichenko, C Mike Sgarbossa, D Lucas Johansen

Out: D Ethan Bear (NHLPA players assistance program), C Nicklas Backstrom (hip), D Rasmus Sandin (upper-body), D Nick Jensen (upper-body)

With Jensen out, McIlrath drew into the lineup. Johansen was recalled from the AHL’s Hershey Bears on Sunday. Van Riemsdyk appeared in his 600th career NHL game.

Boston’s Lines

Brad Marchand — Charlie Coyle — Jake DeBrusk
Danton Heinen — Pavel Zacha — David Pastrnak
Jakub Lauko — Morgan Geekie — Trent Frederic
Pat Maroon — Jesper Boqvist — John Beecher

Hampus Lindholm — Charlie McAvoy
Parker Wotherspoon — Brandon Carlo
Kevin Shattenkirk — Andrew Peeke

Jeremy Swayman
Linus Ullmark

Scratched: LW James Van Riemsdyk, D Matthew Lohrei, D Matt Grzelyck

Out: LW Milan Lucic (personal), C Matthew Poitras (shoulder), D Derek Forbort (undisclosed), RW Justin Brazeau (upper-body)

FIRST PERIOD

Scoring

12:00, 1-0 Washington: Carlson fired one past the blocker of Swayman from up top with Wilson tied up with Shattenkirk in front after Strome fed Carlson from the half-wall. Strome, who tallied a career-high 42 assists in 2022-23, has reached the 40-assist mark for the second time in his career. Carlson, who has scored five goals in his last 13 games, has scored nine of his 10 goals this season at Capital One Arena. Carlson has reached the 10-goal mark for the eighth time in his 15-year career. In addition, Carlson’s 10 career goals vs. Boston are tied for the most he has scored against a single franchise (10 each vs. Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils). Wilson earned the secondary assist on Carlson’s goal, extending his point streak to three games (one goal, three points).

#ALLCAPS 1-0. JOHNNY HOCKEY ON THE BOARD FIRST pic.twitter.com/0C33P9Kckq

— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) April 15, 2024

Shots: 7-4 Washington

Other Notable Stats: 20-19 Washington in hits, 5-3 Washington in blocked shots, 67% Boston on faceoffs

Screenshot: Natural StatTrick

SECOND PERIOD

Scoring

None

Malenstyn sustained an upper-body injury following a collision with Frederic along the half-wall and did not return.

#ALLCAPS Beck Malenstyn slow to get up pic.twitter.com/kw4BZIa8fl

— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) April 16, 2024

Shots: 22-8 Washington, including 15-4 in the second

Other Notable Stats: 9-6 Washington in blocked shots, 33-33 in hits, 66% Boston on faceoffs

THIRD PERIOD

Scoring

19:48, 2-0 (ENG): Dowd stole the puck from Marchand in the offensive zone, carried the puck in, and backhanded one in.

#ALLCAPS 2-0. DOWD. THANK YOU MARCHAND! pic.twitter.com/7xSj5HKIPr

— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) April 16, 2024

Shots: 25-16 Washington, but 8-3 Boston in the third

Other Notable Stats: 14-10 Washington in blocked shots, 56% Boston on faceoffs, 50-41 Boston in hits

Standings

Washington cannot finish higher than the second wild-card after the New York Islanders defeated the New Jersey Devils, 4-1, on Monday. They are one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins, tied with the Detroit Red Wings, and are two in front of the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference wild-card race. Washington, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Philadelphia all have one game left in the regular season.

Next game: Tuesday at Philadelphia (7 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market)

By Harrison Brown