Caps 4, Boston Bruins 1
Make it 11 in a row for the Caps, a brand-spanking new franchise record. The 1983-84 group can finally take a step back with their 10-gamer set 26 years ago. Washington is creeping into historic NHL territory. The San Jose Sharks were the last NHL team to put together an 11-game winning streak. That happened in 2008. Prior to that, the New Jersey Devils won 13 games in a row during the 2000-01 season. That team lost in the Stanley Cup finals.
The NHL record is held by the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won 17 straight late in the 1992-1993 season. The 1981-1982 New York Islanders (15) and 1929-1930 Bruins (14) also remain ahead of the Caps on the all-time list. The 1985-86 Philadelphia Flyers (13), 1967-68 Montreal Canadiens and 1998-99 Colorado Avalanche (12 each) are in sight. Washington is now 38-12-6 with 82 points and has a 10-point lead in the Eastern Conference. Go 13-13 the rest of the way and they set the franchise record for wins in a season. That stands at 50 right now (2008-09 and 1985-86).
“It’s very special. We just talked about it in the room,” Caps forward Brooks Laich told Comcast SportsNet after the game. “No Caps team has done this in 35 years. We’re on a roll right now and playing hockey is a lot of fun.”
Jose Theodore was the story in goal. He robbed the Bruins time and again, including an absurd diving paddle stop in the second period and a penalty-shot save on Boston’s David Krejci. Theodore was the big reason Washington killed off five of six Boston power plays. He finished with 41 saves.
“Jose was tremendous. Tremendous,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau after the game. “They had so many more quality chances than we did. And what happens is you start letting a team hang around and hang around that’s not playing good eventually in this league they’re going to do something in one period. And I thought once we got the first goal in the third period it just really took the wind out of their sails.”
The Caps fell behind 1-0 early and were still in the game only because they killed three of four Boston power plays in a shaky first period. But they came out hard in the second and tied it up on a Mike Knuble goal at 2 minutes, 4 seconds. They went ahead on Brooks Laich’s 17th of the year at 5:04 of the third and just about put it away less than three minutes later when Boyd Gordon tipped home a wonderful pass from defenseman Tom Poti, who has found his offensive game this month. Poti posted two assists on the night. Alex Ovechkin potted an unassisted empty-net goal with 32 seconds left – No. 36 on the season. His most memorable shift? How about the one where he was leveled by Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuck and flipped out, drilling Boychuck three times in a row as payback. That alone told you how much the Caps wanted to keep that win streak going.
“Eleven – that’s a pretty big number. That’s difficult to do,” Boudreau said. “I’ve been in the game 35 years and I’ve only been involved in something like this once. That’s a good milestone for those guys and you could see when we got the lead that we started to play a lot better. They may not admit it. But they wanted it pretty bad, I think.”
Caps Notes
» Yeah, I’ll throw a few negatives into an 11-game winning streak. I’m not scared. Alex Semin can go ahead and not take three penalties in a game the rest of the season. He deserves a time out for that performance – but also a tip of the hat for the sweet pass to Laich for the go-ahead goal. No player on the team can save an awful performance with one play better than Semin, who extended his point streak to 10 games. And he wasn’t the only one. Washington was hit with six penalties on the night. The Bruins must be in agony over that thought. The Bs should have had a bigger lead after the first period. And the Caps were 0-for-4 on the power play and lost the faceoff battle. Um…okay, yeah. I’m done. What do you want? They’ve won 11 in a row. Back to the positives: D John Erskine was a +3. Poti was a +4. Every Caps forward has now scored a goal in the last eight games after Gordon’s tally.
