Washington Capitals Hold Off Boston Bruins To Win Ryan Leonard’s NHL Debut, 4-3; Alex Ovechkin Three Goals Away From Tying NHL Record


Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins by a score of 4-3 at TD Garden on Tuesday night in Ryan Leonard’s NHL debut after the 19-year-old, who was selected eighth overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, signed his three-year entry-level contract on Monday.

Captain Alex Ovechkin scored his 891st career goal and now needs three to tie Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record. Washington snapped their three-game winless streak (0-2-1) and improved to 48-17-9 (.709 points percentage) overall. Goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 21 saves in the win.

Washington’s Lines

Ovechkin — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas — Dylan Strome — Leonard
Connor McMichael – Lars Eller — Andrew Mangiapane
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Anthony Beauvillier

Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Dylan McIlrath
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Lindgren
Logan Thompson

  • Scratched
    • D Alexander Alexeyev
    • RW Ethen Frank
    • RW Taylor Raddysh
  • Injured
    • LW Sonny Milano (upper-body)
    • C Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
    • RW T.J. Oshie (back)
    • D Matt Roy (family reasons)
  • Notes
    • Raddysh came out in favor of Leonard
    • McIlrath replaced Roy

Boston’s Lines

Morgan Geekie — Pavel Zacha — David Pastrnak
Marat Khusnutdinov — Casey Mittelstadt — Vinni Lettieri
Cole Koepke – Elias Lindholm — Jakub Lauko
Jeffrey Viel — John Beecher — Patrick Brown

Nikita Zadorov — Henri Jokiharju
Parker Wotherspoon — Andrew Peeke
Mason Lohrei — Ian Mitchell

Jeremy Swayman
Joonas Korpisalo

  • Scratched
    • RW Fabian Lysell
    • D Michael Callahan
  • Injured
    • C Mark Kastelic (upper-body)
    • D Charlie McAvoy (shoulder)
    • D Hampus Lindholm (lower-body)

First Period

Scoring

  • 13:32, 1-0 Washington (SHG): Dowd ripped a wrister over the glove of Swayman after Pastrnak kept the puck in the offensive zone but Duhaime was on him and got it. Duhaime skated ahead and passed the puck to Dowd to get a two-on-one rush. Dowd matched his career-high with his 13th goal of the season, which was set two years ago. The Capitals have scored shorthanded goals in back-to-back games. Washington’s eight shorthanded goals this season are tied for the seventh most in the NHL. Duhaime, who has established career highs in goals (nine) and points (20), has matched his single-season career high in assists (2021-22 with Minnesota Wild: 11).
  • 15:43, 2-0 (PPG): Ovechkin tapped in Strome’s backhanded pass in front of the net after Carlson fed Strome from the high slot. Ovechkin passed Gordie Howe (778) for the eighth-most road points in NHL history. Ovechkin’s 38 goals are the third most in a season by a player age 39 or older in NHL history (Howe: 44 in 1968-69 & 39 in 1967-68). Ovechkin’s 225 career goals against Original Six franchises passed Gretzky and Brian Bellows for the second-most in the Expansion Era (1967-68). Ovechkin has scored a first-period goal in 10 of Washington’s 74 games this season. He has gone on to score a second goal in three of the previous nine occurrences. Strome notched his team-leading 28th power-play point of the season (22 assists). Strome has assisted on 18 of Ovechkin’s 38 goals this season. Since joining the Capitals ahead of the 2022-23 season, no player has assisted on more Ovechkin goals than Strome (44). Among active defensemen, Carlson ranks second in career goals (10) and third in points (29) against the Bruins. Ovechkin set an NHL record with his 416th goal after his 30th birthday.

Stats

  • 11-4 Washington in shots
  • Washington scored on their lone power play of the first
  • 9-9 in hits
  • 5-3 Washington in blocked shots
  • 4-4 in giveaways
  • 6-0 Boston in takeaways

Second Period

Scoring

  • 6:05, 2-1: Letteri ripped a wrist shot over the blocker of Lindgren from the low slot after the goaltender rimmed the puck around the boards, it hit Carlson, and found Letteri right in front.
  • With 5:21 left in the period, McIlrath and Viel traded bombs with their fists at center ice.
  • 17:12, 2-2 (PPG): Geekie one-timed a pass to Pastrnak at the front of the net and Pastrnak tipped the puck into a yawning net after Boston threw the puck around the diamond in the offensive zone.

 

Stats

  • 18-13 Washington in shots
    • but 9-6 Boston in the period
  • Washington did not score on their only power play of the second
    • Boston converted on one of their two chances
  • 16-15 Boston in hits
  • 10-7 Washington in blocked shots
  • 10-8 Boston in giveaways
  • 8-1 Boston in takeaways
Graphs: Natural StatTrick

Third Period

Scoring

  • 10:35, 3-2 Washington: Strome slammed in the puck into an open net blocker side on Swayman in front after Protas shanked a drive from up top and Fehervary fed Protas from the other point. Strome has recorded four points (one goal) in his last two games and has scored a goal in six of his last 11 games. Protas tallied his 60th even strength point of the season (27g, 33a). Protas is the first Capital to record 60 even strength points in a season since Ovechkin in 2021-22 (33-27-60 in 77). With the secondary helper, Fehervary reached the 20-assist mark for the first time in his career. Dubois (19-44-63 in 74) tied his career high in points, which he accomplished with the Winnipeg Jets in 2022-23 (27-36-63 in 73).
  • 14:36, 4-2: Wilson got a pass by Dubois through the neutral zone to go on a two-on-one with Van Riemsdyk. The pass went off of the shoulder of Lohrei and into the open net with Swayman moving to the other side. Wilson’s 32 goals this season are seven behind Ovechkin for the team lead.
  • 15:12, 4-3: Pastrnak got the puck at the half-wall, moved down low to the right dot, got Duhaime down and out, and wristed a shot over the blocker of Lindgren.

Stats

  • 31-24 Washington in shots
    • including 14-11 in the third period
  • Boston finished one-for-three on the power play
  • 20-18 Boston in hits
  • 15-13 Washington in blocked shots
  • 13-12 Washington in giveaways
  • 8-1 Boston in takeaways

With their win on Tuesday, the Capitals improve to 19-6-1 in games following a loss this season.

Washington’s lead over the Carolina Hurricanes (who have a game in hand) for first place in the Metropolitan Division and Carolina and Toronto (who has eight left in the regular season, like Washington) for first in the Eastern Conference extended to 11 points. The Capitals need any combination of points gained by them and points missed by Hurricanes that add up to eight to clinch the top seed in the division.

Graphic: @CapitalsPR

Next game: Wednesday at Carolina (7 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network in-market; TNT, truTV out-of-market)

By Harrison Brown

About Harrison Brown

Harrison is a diehard Caps fan and a hockey fanatic with a passion for sports writing. He attended his first game at age 8 and has been a season ticket holder since the 2010-2011 season. His fondest Caps memory was watching the Capitals hoist the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas. In his spare time, he enjoys travel, photography, and hanging out with his two dogs. Follow Harrison on Twitter @HarrisonB927077





Source link

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR