Caps Take Down B's, 4-2

A week ago, the Caps were reeling a bit following consecutive lopsided losses on home ice. But with Sunday's 4-2 win over the Bruins at Capital One Arena, the Capitals have now won three in a row against elite Eastern Conference foes, and they've swept a pair of back-to-back weekend matinee matches, taking down the Penguins on Saturday in Pittsburgh and the B's on Sunday at home.

"I thought tonight was good, especially coming off of that game [Saturday]," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "It's probably 17, 18 hours from when the guys got back to their house last night, so that's a really quick turnaround, and a really good response. I thought we were fast and competitive, right from the start. We had to be, Boston came out that way, so we needed to be."
Lars Eller snapped a 2-2 tie at 7:18 of the third period to lift the Caps into the lead, and Alex Ovechkin put a coda on the afternoon when he notched his 45th goal of the season into an empty Boston net with only a couple of ticks still on the game clock.
After curling off the half wall down low on the left side, Eller put a shot toward the Boston net from the bottom of the left circle. The puck clicked off the stick of Bruins center Erik Haula and over the right shoulder of Boston goaltender Linus Ullmark to give the Caps a 3-2 lead, an advantage they maintained until Ovechkin's punctuational tally in the waning seconds.
"Tough bounce," says Haula. "It was kind of the story in the third. I think they were the better team in the third, and that was the difference in the game."
Following a scoreless first period, Washington jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 4:11 of the second when Conor Sheary forced a turnover along the wall in Boston ice and quickly fed John Carlson at the point. The big blueliner crept up to the top of the circle and put a blast behind Ullmark. The goal was Carlson's 14th of the season, one shy of matching his career high.

Less than four minutes after Carlson's opening salvo, the Bruins got even with a goal from their fourth line. After Tomas Nosek won a puck battle in the corner, Boston winger Nick Foligno carried wide as if to go around the Caps' cage, but he stopped at the post and flipped it to the front where Curtis Lazar hammered it home, making it a 1-1 contest at 7:55 of the second.
Exactly a minute later, the Bruins took their first lead of the contest. The Caps exited their end, but they turned it over near the Boston line. Charlie McAvoy sent Haula into Washington ice in transition, and shooting from the left dot, Haula beat Vitek Vanecek to the far corner, giving the Bruins a 2-1 lead at 8:55.
Late in the second, Nick Jensen got the Caps into Boston ice with a creative loft pass to Anthony Mantha, and the Caps were able to go to work in the offensive zone. After a bit of a give and go with Mantha, Eller fired from the slot. Ullmark made the save, but Tom Wilson was right there to tuck the rebound through Ullmark's five-hole at 15:10 of the middle frame. Wilson's second goal in as many afternoons made it a 2-2 game, shrinking it to a 20-minute contest, and setting the stage for the Eller and Ovechkin markers in the third.

Starting for the first time in a week, Vanecek was solid, stopping 28 of the 30 shots he faced, helping the Caps complete a three-game sweep of Eastern elites in a span of five nights. Sunday's game marked the first time in 10 games that the Caps were able to limit the opposition to fewer than three goals.
"I think it says a lot," says Eller. "I think we know how good we're capable of playing, but doing it on a consistent basis has been the challenge for us, since after Christmas. This week, we put together three really strong games with various challenges, some guys coming in and out [of the lineup].
"We had a really good team effort, played well with and without the puck and with Vitek coming in today. {Saturday] it was [Ilya Samsonov]. I think we've got a good feeling in the room right now, after this week."

Boston came in hot and more rested than Washington. The Bruins began the day with 18 wins in their previous 23 games (18-4-1), but the Caps cooled them off, completing a weekend sweep of black and gold clad foes from the East.
"Through two periods, their best chances started with the puck on our stick," says Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "Even their [third] goal, we won the draw. These are good hockey teams you're playing. You can't mismanage pucks and expect to get away with it all night."