Preview: Bruins host Capitals in last home game of regular season

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 7:00 PM

Where: TD Garden – Boston, MA

How to follow: NESN, SNP, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Know your enemy

• 34-36-9, 77PTS, 7th in Metropolitan Division
• Alex Ovechkin: 72GP, 42G, 32A, 74PTS; Dylan Strome: 78GP, 21G, 40A, 61PTS; Evgeny Kuznetsov: 78GP, 12G, 43A, 55PTS
• Darcy Kuemper: 21-26-6, 2.84 GAA, .909 save percentage

Game notes

• The Boston Bruins host the Washington Capitals tonight at the TD Garden for the last home game of the regular season! It’s also Garnet Hathaway’s and Dmitry Orlov’s first game against their former team.
• The Bruins are 33-4-3 at home heading into this last home game.
• There are only two games left to play and should expect to see some guys rotate out of the lineup tonight – unless the Bruins want the most points in a regular season record…
• The Bruins’ 63^rd win of the season on Sunday against the Philadelphia Flyers moved them into sole possession of the NHL’s most wins in a regular season. The Bruins could hit another record in these last two games. They have 131 points. They need one point to tie most points in a season and two to beat it.
• David Pastrnak notched his 60^th goal of the season to complete a hat trick on Sunday, which also was his 300^th career goal. The four-point night was his fourth this season. It was also his third hat trick this year – and second in five games.
• The Bruins’ second line has been on fire to say the least. Besides the numbers that Pastrnak has put up, Tyler Bertuzzi and Pavel Zacha are completing the line and making it a dangerous combo out on the ice. The Bruins’ second line has scored 11 of the team’s 15 goals in the last five games. They’ve also combined for 13 assists.
• The Capitals’ have been plagued with injuries to end their regular season and the list is a doozy. It’s going to be a depleted Washington lineup with several guys out. Ovechkin, Nic Dowd, Connor Brown, Anthony Mantha, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Carl Hagelin and T.J. Oshie are all out with various lower- or upper-body injuries.
• The Bruins are 1-1-0 against the Capitals this season. They beat the Caps in the first meeting on Oct. 12, 2022 – a 5-2 win that saw Pastrnak register four points. The Bruins fell to the Capitals on Feb. 11 – a 2-1 loss in which Hathaway scored the game-winner for his ex-team. At least they don’t have to worry about Hathaway anymore!
• Tonight will be the tail-end of a back-to-back for the Capitals, as they played last night in D.C. against New York Islanders.
• See ya tonight!