The Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals opened their 2025-26 NHL schedules at Capital One Arena on Wednesday night as part of a nationally-televised game on TNT. The contest featured two of the NHL’s most prominent international stars as Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin battled Bruins forward David Pastrnak in the season opener. When the disappointed fans exited the arena in D.C., it was Boston’s All-Star forward who got the first laugh in the season series with a goal and two assists in a 3-1 Bruins road win.
Game Recap
A low-event first period saw a combined 11 shots between Washington and Boston. The Capitals were 0-for-3 with the man advantage, while the Bruins failed to score on their only opportunity. Both goalies, Washington’s Logan Thompson and Boston’s Jeremy Swayman, smothered all opportunities sent their way in the opening period.
The second period followed a similar pattern early on, with Boston granting Washington a one-minute-long 5-on-3 man advantage early in the frame, and the Capitals failing to capitalize on the opportunity. Pastrnak opened the scoring for Boston on a seeing-eye shot that slipped past net front traffic in front of Thompson and across the goal line for a 1-0 Boston lead. While the Capitals fired 19 shots towards Swayman in the second period, the Bruins’ netminder stopped them all to maintain Boston’s lead through 40 minutes.
Tom Wilson scored Washington’s first goal of the 2025-26 campaign at 7:03 of the third period on a shot from the slot that sailed past Swayman’s blocker side to tie the game at 1-1. Capitals defender John Carlson took a tripping penalty 15 seconds later, and Boston quickly capitalized on the man advantage. Bruins’ center Elias Lindholm found open ice in the slot and scored on the backhander past Thompson to restore Boston’s lead at 2-1 with 7:41 remaining in the final regulation period.
Despite some valiant late-game scoring attempts from Ovechkin and friends, Washington wasn’t able to solve Swayman again as he backstopped Boston to the 3-1 victory. Bruins forward Morgan Geekie sealed the game with Boston’s final goal, while Pastrnak picked up his third point of the evening with an assist on the play.
Related: Bruins David Pastrnak on Pace to Become All-Time Franchise Great
The Capitals will not return to action until this weekend on Oct. 11, while the Bruins are not so lucky. Boston hosts Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks tomorrow night (Oct. 9) at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
