[TNKNGM]

TNK BOSTON BRUINS FRANCHISE

Game #38 of Season
Washington Capitals (21-14-2) @ Boston Bruins (25-10-2)

1st Period - The game was being played wide open at a frantic pace in the early going with both teams generating plenty of chances and not much defense being played as Holtby and Halak were both forced to make a number of difficult saves. The game remained scoreless until Jake Debrusk got the Bruins on the board when he scored from a tough angle after Holtby stopped a shot from Grzelcyk and the puck found its way to Debrusk after a net front scramble giving Boston a 1-0 lead with 1:41 left in the period. The 1st period would come to an end with Boston leading 1-0 and holding a 16-11 edge in shots

2nd Period - The Capitals came out flying to begin the 2nd period and had a number of quality scoring chances in the first half of the period but Jaroslav Halak was fantastic in the Boston net and came up with some big saves to deny Ovechkin and Kuznetsov on point blank chances keeping it a 1-0 game. Washington would go to the PP when Carlo was called for hooking with 7:53 to play in the period and had some good looks on the man advantage but could not cash in and the Bruins would survive the PK and get back to even strength. Washington continued to control play late but Halak would keep it a 1-0 game with some tough saves and Holtby came up with a highlight reel save in the final minute of the period as he dove across the crease to deny Bergeron after a beautiful move and set up from Anders Bjork and the 2nd period would come to an end with the Bruins leading 1-0 despite the Capitals out-shooting Boston 15-6 in the period and 26-22 through 40 minutes.

3rd Period - The Bruins would enter the 3rd period leading by a score of 1-0 and looking to tighten up defensively in the 3rd period against the explosive attack of the Capitals. Washington came out buzzing to start the 3rd period as they look to try and tie the game up and spark a comeback but Boston would survive the initial surge to begin the period. The Bruins would settle down after the push by Washington in the opening minutes and the Bruins would find their defensive structure and start to control play as we approached the midway point of the 3rd period with the shots even at 29-29. The Bruins were protecting their 1-0 lead as the clock ticked under 10:00 to play in regulation and the Capitals were starting to show some desperation and take chances offensively. Holtby came up with a huge stop as Anders Bjork stole the puck from Kempny in the neutral zone and raced in alone on a breakaway but Holtby stretched his pad over to rob Bjork after a nice move to the backhand and the score remained 1-0 with 8:40 remaining. The Capitals would finally get on the board a couple minutes later when Hagelin raced up the wing and dropped the puck back to Djoos who fired a slap shot that Halak stopped but Lars Eller was crashing the net and fired the rebound past Halak for a big game tying goal for Washington to even the score at 1-1 with 6:39 remaining and set the stage for an exciting finish. Jack Studnicka was making his NHL debut for Boston and came close to being the hero with just over 3:00 to play when he made a move to shake his defender and get to the high slot and fired a rocket that beat Holtby but rang the off the post and the score remained tied 1-1. The Bruins would use their timeout with 0:36 left to play in regulation after Holtby froze the puck as Boston wanted to get the Bjork-Bergeron-Pastrnak line on the ice with an offensive zone faceoff coming up. The Bruins executed their plan to perfection as Patrice Bergeron won the ensuing faceoff back to Charlie McAvoy who made a quick move to get to the center of the ice along the blue line and beat Holtby with a low hard slap shot through a screen to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead with 0:31 remaining. The Capitals were unable to get Holtby off for the extra attacker in the closing seconds as Boston would possess the puck and dump it into the Washington end as time would expire and the Bruins come away with a thrilling 2-1 victory

* The Bruins and Capitals went toe to toe in a playoff like battle that was tied 1-1 with under 1:00 to play when Charlie McAvoy blew a slap shot past Holtby to give Boston a hard fought 2-1 victory

* The Bruins improve to 26-10-2 while the Capitals fall to 21-15-2

* Jaroslav Halak stopped 32 of 33 shots and was outstanding for Boston getting the start in place of Tuukka Rask and Halak was at his best in the 2nd period when he was under siege and made a number of huge saves prevent the Capitals from scoring and protect what was a 1-0 lead at the time

* Braden Holtby was equally impressive in the Washington net stopping 37 of 39 shots

* Charlie McAvoy scored the game winner with 0:31 remaining and now has 3 goals in the last 4 games to bring his total to 6 goals on the season

* Jake Derbusk scored his 11th goal of the season for Boston and has 9 goals in his last 14 games

* Jack Studnicka made his NHL debut for Boston and handled himself well playing a responsible 200 foot game and generated some chances offensively in a nice debut.

* The Bruins will get Brad Marchand back in the lineup after the Christmas break after missing the last few games with mild concussion symptoms.

* The Bruins will have a few days off for the Christmas break before traveling to Buffalo to begin a critical home and home series with the Sabres who have surged to 2nd place in the division with a record of 21-13-4 and are 8 points behind the Bruins in the Atlantic Division. Buffalo could pull within 4 points of Boston if they can pull off a pair of wins against the Bruins

Washington Capitals at Boston Bruins
Dec 23, 2019 1 2 3 F WAS (21-15-2) 0 0 0 1 BOS (26-10-2) 1 0 1 2 Three Stars Jaroslav Halak (BOS) 32 Saves Braden Holtby (WSH) 37 Saves Charlie McAvoy (BOS) 1 Goal	Team Stats Comparison WAS BOS Shots on Goal 33 39 Hits 27 23 Faceoffs Won-Lost 17-11 11-17 Penalty Minutes 0:00 2:00 Power Plays Converted 0 0 Power Play Opportunities 1 0 Time on Attack 7:22 7:46
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD BOS Jake Debrusk (11) (Grzelcyk, Clifton) 18:19 THIRD PERIOD WAS Lars Eller (9) (Djoos, Hagelin) 13:21 BOS Charlie McAvoy (6) (Bergeron) 19:29
Washington Capitals - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Braden Holtby 39 37 95% 2.00
Boston Bruins - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Jaroslav Halak 33 32 97% 1.00