Watch: David Pastrnak’s shot trickles in, Bruins outlast Capitals in shootout
The Bruins had to kill off a four-minute double-major in overtime to force the shootout period.
The Bruins couldn’t help but make things interesting on Saturday night, but still came away with two points and a shootout win over the Washington Capitals.
After leaving regulation tied 2-2, Boston made a critical error in overtime that could have — and probably should have — ended its night with a loss. Hampus Lindholm’s stick rode up too high and caught a Capitals skater in the face, drawing a double-minor penalty.
Because of that, the Bruins were shorthanded for essentially the remainder of the overtime period. Remarkably, their defense held strong and Jeremy Swayman made key saves to kill off the four-minute penalty and force a shootout.
Boston and Washington traded blows searching for the extra point, and a total of five skaters scored shootout goals. David Pastrnak’s lamp-lighter trickled through the posts in an almost comically slow fashion.
Pastrnak broke out his patented shootout move to try and give Boston the lead, but it appeared as though Charlie Lindgren swallowed it up. Instead, the puck came sliding out from behind his back, and had just enough speed to cross the goal line.
That could have been the game-winner, if not for Sonny Milano matching seconds later. Instead, veteran defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk provided the game-winning tally, and Swayman finalized it with a glove save at the other end.
For a Bruins team that’s struggled closing out games of late, the clutch penalty kill in overtime — and eventual shootout win — should give Boston a little bit of confidence in that respect as the postseason looms.
Though Lindholm put the Bruins in that OT bind, he did plenty to get them to the extra frame in the first place. The blue-liner opened the scoring for Boston on a shot from the point, and also made a key save defensively to keep the game alive for the Bruins in the third period.
Boston will be back in action against the Predators on Tuesday in Nashville.
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