Bruins fall 3-2 to Capitals and Braden Holtby after slow start

The Washington Capitals and Braden Holtby had not lost against the Bruins since Jarome Iginla was on the team, and tonight was no different.

Tom Wilson got the scoring started 7:01 in off of a broken play from no angle for his first goal of the season at the beginning of a rally where the Bruins were out chanced 7 to 2, starting and ending with goals to make it 2-0 in a period the Bruins would have rather forgotten. When asked about slow starts the past few games, Cassidy responded:

“I think tonight was - and a little bit Columbus, I think we have a young - and I’m not blaming it on young guys - we have a young inexperienced group to a certain extent so I think some of these games... they wait to see what happens instead of initiating, and once it gets going and they get the temperature of the game and they get going we’re okay, but you need to have a better understanding of, you know, be on time.”

It’s remarkable that Alex Ovechkin finds himself open in the same spot so many times given the amount of video scouting that teams do, but on a broken play Ovechkin found a soft spot at the top of the left wing circle for a one timer off of the Kuznetsov pass.

The Bruins came out stronger in the second period, scoring on their first shot attempt of the second period with Torey Krug making a nice saucer pass to Patrice Bergeron cross ice, with Bergeron delaying long enough at the line to allow a streaking Pastrnak to get free and in on Holtby, tucking it five hole to bring it back within one, and starting a torrent of shots on Braden Holtby, who stood tall.

All that would be undone Tom Wilson’s first career regular season two goal game, tipping a Brooks Orpik blast from the point by Rask that went off of the crossbar and into the net just seventy seconds from closing out the period down by one.

The Bruins caught a break in the beginning of the third period as Brooks Orpik needlessly high sticked David Pastrnak, drawing blood and forcing Pastrnak to get his lower lip stitched up, subsequently missing the beginning of the powerplay. The Bruins had a good chance to get the lead back down to one, but instead spent the first 2:30 getting set up in the offensive zone, and seemed to give up more good chances than they got. Tom Wilson blew by Charlie McAvoy like he was standing still, then Alex Chiasson easily went around Paul Postma, finished by a two on one by the Caps as the powerplay wound down.

Another powerplay late in the game allowed David Pastrnak to bank a shot in off of Holtby, who had cheated off of his post anticipating a pass to Danton Heinen coming off of the half wall, but Pastrnak’s shot found a spot between Holtby’s pad and blocker and into the net with 2:32 remaining. It would not be enough, even with the goalie pulled.

While held off the scoresheet, the line of Beleskey - Nash - Czarnik controlled play, with that trio finishing only behind the ageless Zdeno Chara, Tuukka Rask, and Charlie McAvoy at even strength. On the other side of the coin, the Heinen - Szwarz - Bjork line was the only Bruins line to find themselves under water possession wise, along with the pairing of Brandon Carlo and Torey Krug, who still looks to be shaking off some rust. 40 minutes of effort won’t cut it because “this is the National Hockey League, and you have to be on time.”