Eller tied it 2-2 at 16:12 with a wrist shot from the left circle.
"The end result is not good," Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. "We lost the game, and we were there at the end, but didn't get it done. ... I thought the guys played hard. ... It was a tight game. It was physical. It was battle-heavy. At the end of the day, it's tough to lose in the last two minutes of the game."
NOTES: Foward Anton Blidh left the game with an upper-body injury after taking a hit from Washington forward Tom Wilson at 15:27 of the first period. He will miss at least one game. ... Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen sustained an upper-body injury and left during the second period. Laviolette did not have an update. ... Backstrom played his eighth game; he missed the first 28 recovering from a hip injury. ... Kuznetsov scored his 40th point (13 goals, 27 assists) in his 38th game of the season, the fewest games it has taken in his nine-season NHL career. ... Pastrnak has scored 12 goals against the Capitals. He has scored more against the Philadelphia Flyers (19), Tampa Bay Lightning (16), Montreal Canadiens (14) and Toronto Maple Leafs (14). ... Pastrnak has scored 10 goals in 2022, the most of any NHL player. It was his 38th multigoal game; only Marchand has more (42) since Pastrnak entered the NHL in 2014-15. ... McAvoy's goal was the 10th time this season, first for Boston, that a team scored a go-ahead goal in the final minute of the third period. The Buffalo Sabres are the only team to have done so twice.