Caps Celebrate, then Dominate Bruins, 7-0

It didn't take long for the Caps to move forward from their summer of Stanley. After a stirring Stanley Cup banner raising ceremony that was alternately regal and raucous, elegant and emotional, the Caps turned the page on 2017-18 and fixed their full and undivided attention on the season opener against the Boston Bruins, putting a 7-0 pasting on the visitors.

Taking a typically perfect feed from Nicklas Backstrom, T. J. Oshie needed only 24 seconds with which to score the first goal of the season, and it turned out to be the game-winner and all the offense Braden Holtby would need in the Washington nets. The Caps went on to score six more times, scoring four of them on the power play.

"You guys have been spoiled here for a while," says Oshie, "seeing what [number] 19 can do and where he can put the puck. It was right in the wheelhouse for me, and it found a hole and went in."
The primary assist on Washington's first goal of the season was the 800th career point for Backstrom, who added two more helpers on subsequent goals.
Caps coach Todd Reirden was able to claim his first victory in his first game as an NHL head coach.
"To finally become a head coach in the National Hockey League," says Reirden, "and in particular with the Washington Capitals, is an honor and a privilege and a special day for me that I won't ever forget.
"It was really kind of overwhelming with what happened to start the game and the emotion that was in our building. The fans were phenomenal and just the whole setting with what happened with the banner and having the Cup there and how excited our guys were, it was amazing to be a part of that type of event today."

Before the game was even two minutes old, the Caps owned a 2-0 lead. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored just two seconds into Washington's first power play opportunity of the season, the first of two extra-man tallies for Kuznetsov in the game.
The Caps piled on four more tallies in the second period, getting into the Boston bullpen and chasing beleaguered B's goaltender Tuukka Rask to the bench in favor of ex-Caps netminder Jaroslav Halak. Rask was dented for three goals on three shots in his final 191 seconds of work.
Washington was dominant all over the ice. The seven-goal outburst is what will draw the most notice, but the Caps put on a clinic in their own end and on the forecheck as well. Despite playing without top-four defenseman Michal Kempny (upper body injury) and top line right wing Tom Wilson (20-game suspension), the Caps showed no nicks in their championship armor on this night.
The Caps scored on each of their first four power-play opportunities of the night, with Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson (on a five-on-three) accounting for the other two extra-man strikes. Washington also got even-strength goals from three of its four lines, and 12 of the Caps' 18 skaters earned at least a point, as did Holtby, who picked up an assist on Kuznetsov's second power-play goal.

In his first game as a member of the Capitals, Nic Dowd and linemates Nathan Walker and Devante Smith-Pelly turned in a strong night's work on Washington's fourth line. Dowd netted his first goal as a Capital as part of Washington's second-period barrage, sending a backhand ripper to the top shelf at 6:13 to make it a 4-0 game.
The most emotion seen from anyone sporting a white sweater trimmed in black and gold came when Boston's Brad Marchand took exception to what be saw as an excessive celebration from Lars Eller after the Caps center closed out the scoring with a strong individual effort late in the third. Marchand jumped Eller on the next shift, getting an instigator minor, a fighting major and a game misconduct in the process.
"The celebration was unnecessary," was Marchand's explanation. "He took an angle in front of our bench and celebrated in a 7-0 game. So I let him know."
Not letting the score get to 7-0 apparently wasn't an option for Marchand and his mates on this night.
"We got ourselves behind the eight-ball early and early weren't ready to go," says Boston coach Bruce Cassidy, "and it just carried on from there."
Holtby had a relatively easy night in goal, stopping 25 shots with most of them falling into the "routine" category. His domination of the Bruins continues; he is now 15-2-0 lifetime with four shutouts against the Bruins, while Rask falls to 1-11-5 in his career against Washington.
Any thoughts that the Caps might come out flat after witnessing and participating in the banner raising celebration were quickly dispelled, just as Reirden hoped.
"It definitely was a concern," admits Reirden. "It was something that I addressed on more than one occasion and was quite firm on actually with the guys before the start of the game. It was a key point for me and I challenged the group and was really proud of our leaders to be able to come out of a situation where there was so much emotion, covering the gamut of emotions from guys who were maybe crying to guys who were ecstatic happy-wise to then go and have to play against a team that's had a lot of success in the league the last couple of years in Boston."
Not to worry, kid.