Final: Bruins 3, Capitals 1 - Bruins win 12th straight game at home

The Boston Bruins win their 12th consecutive game at TD Garden with a 3-1 victory against the Washington Capitals.

Heading into this game, both teams were competing for position in the Eastern Conference wild card race, and Boston's win helped keep them in the second wild card seed.

Neither team scored in the first period as both teams racked up time spent in the penalty box. The parade of penalties continued in the second period as the Bruins scored the game's first goal on the power play.

Five minutes into the second period, the Bruins rushed into Washington's goal, and Pavel Zacha batted a puck in front of the net on a self-created rebound to give the Bruins the initial lead.

Boston's lead didn't last long as the Capitals scored three minutes later. Jakob Chychrun danced around Boston's blue and made a nifty between-the-legs deke that resulted in a rebound shot. Aliaksei Protas caught Chychrun's rebound in front of the net and tied the game 1-1.

After more penalties from both teams, the game went into another tie going into the second intermission.

Five minutes into the third period, the Bruins once again took the lead. As the Capitals attempted to transition into Boston's own zone, Hampus Lindholm intercepted a pass and head-manned the puck to Casey Mittelstadt who immediately dished a pass to Viktor Arvidsson. On the breakaway, Arvidsson fired a shot on the low, right hand corner which nicked off the post and into the back of the net.

For the remaining 15 minutes, the Capitals pressured Boston to tie the game, but strong goaltending from Jeremy Swayman kept Washington at one goal. Elias Lindholm potted an empty net goal with 30 seconds left in the game to seal Boston 12th straight win at home.

Today was a low-scoring game, but the Bruins still won the special teams battle in a heavy penalized game. The Capitals collected six penalties compared to Boston's three. Despite the Bruins going 1/6 on the power play, they shut down the Capitals on the penalty kill.

The Bruins will stay at home and take on the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow. Puck drop at TD Garden will be at 4:30 p.m.

______________________

WHO: Bruins (34-22-5) vs Capitals (31-25-7)
WHEN: 12:30 p.m.
WHERE: TD Garden, Boston
TV: ABC
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub

LIVE BOX SCORE

PROJECTED LINES

Boston

Khusnutdinov - E. Lindholm - Pastrnak

Mittelstadt - Zacha - Arvidsson

Steeves - Minten - Geekie

Jeannot - Kuraly - Kastelic

Aspirot - McAvoy

Lindholm - Lohrei

Zadorov - Peeke

Swayman

Korpisalo

Washington

Ovechkin - Strome - Beauvillier

Protas - Dubois - Wilson

McMichael - Sourdif - Leonard

Duhaime - Kampf - Frank

Chychrun - Van Riemsdyk

Sandin - Roy

Fehervary - Liligren

Thompson

Lindgren

PREGAME NOTES

The Boston Bruins take on the Washington Capitals post trade deadline.

The Bruins made two trades during this year's trade deadline. The first trade was dealing forward Brett Harrison and defenseman Jackson Edward  to the Flyers for forwards Alexis Gendron and Massimo Rizzo. Gendron is a 22-year-old left shot forward who had 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 47 AHL games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Rizzo spent last year in the AHL, but dropped to the ECHL’s Reading Royals this year. He has six goals and 16 assists in 29 games this season.

The second trade was the Bruins acquiring Lucas Reichel from the Vancouver Canucks for a 2026 6th-round pick. Reichel, the former 17th overall pick in the 2020 NHL draft, has played 188 games in his NHL career, scoring 23 goals and 37 assists. The 6-foot, 170-pound forward is set to be a free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season.