In the final game before the Christmas break, the Boston Bruins (19-13-4) extended their winning streak at TD Garden to five games with a 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals (23-9-2). Bruins captain Brad Marchand kept his point streak alive, putting up a goal and two assists in the third period to have points in 10 straight games.
The first period was a tightly contested one, with both teams recording fewer than 10 shots combined, but the action was non-stop. Bruins defensemen Nikita Zadorov and Charlie McAvoy had some massive hits, while Capitals forward Tom Wilson had his fair share of hits in the opening frame. The period didn’t go scoreless, as in the final minute on the man-advantage, Justin Brazeau buried a backhander in-tight past Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren for his seventh goal on the season and fourth on the power play (tied for the Bruins lead) to give Boston the 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
It was more of the same brand of hockey in the middle period, as shot totals remained low largely due to the excellent defense played by both the Capitals and the Bruins. Less than three minutes into the period, Wilson landed what appeared to be a meaningless check on Bruins’ David Pastrnak in the neutral zone, which seemed to have shaken Pastrnak up enough to pause and hold his midsection. He eventually left the game and did not return, and without an update post-game, there is a belief that he aggravated an injury on the play.
Only a couple minutes afterward, Bruins defender Brandon Carlo was whistled for an interference penalty. On the ensuing power play, Jakub Vrana unloaded a bomb from the faceoff circle to tie the game, his seventh goal of the season assisted by Rasmus Sandin and Pierre-Luc Dubois. The goal came on Washington’s fourth shot of the contest, tying the game at one. Jeremy Swayman seemed to have tracked the play well enough but was unable to get his blocker high enough to stop the shot. However, this would be the only goal he would allow on 11 shots tonight.
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Ten seconds into the final regulation period, Bruins forward Oliver Wahlstrom was handed a five-minute major and game misconduct for boarding Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary. Now shorthanded two forwards (Pastrnak and Wahlstrom), Boston managed to successfully kill off the five-minute penalty, surrendering zero shots during the entirety of it. Washington struggled to generate any chances, even with extended zone time, and the shots they did take were blocked by Boston (17 blocked shots).
Afterward, Boston began to break this game open. Under seven minutes in, Marchand fed Elias Lindholm on a slick 2-on-1 play to beat Lindgren for the eventual game-winning goal. Lindholm’s goal was his third in four games and was also the play that extended Marchand’s point streak to ten games. 2:18 later, Marchand found himself on another odd-man rush, this time with Charlie Coyle carrying the puck. Coyle fed it over to Marchand who rang his shot off the far post, only for Coyle to pot the rebound for his ninth of the season to put Boston up two.
The Marchand-Lindholm-Coyle line strikes again with two goals in 2:18.
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) December 24, 2024
Coyle makes it a 3-1 game. pic.twitter.com/HFFBnr2fFq
Marchand got a goal of his own—his team-leading 15th of the season in the empty net to give Boston the three-goal insurance and most importantly—the 4-1 win heading into Christmas break. Washington had some chances but was systematically shut down by Boston’s defense, only producing 11 shots on Swayman over the course of all three periods. Lindgren finished the night with an .857 save percentage, stopping 18 of the 21 shots he faced.
Boston will enjoy its next three days off before returning on Dec. 27 for game one of a back-to-back series against the Columbus Blue Jackets. For Washington, their break will be a day longer as they don’t return until Dec. 28 for a road game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
