There was the breakaway stop on Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron and the sparkling glove save on the follow-up chance by Bruins forward Chuck Kobasew in the first period. Then came the sprawling stick save after getting deked by rookie forward Blake Wheeler in the second. The rest was just pure consistency. Johnson (33 saves) stopped the pucks he needed to stop, kept loose rebounds to a minimum and helped the Caps hold on for a win over the Eastern Conference’s top team.

Nicklas Backstrom and AHL call-up Alexandre Giroux both scored for the Caps and Alex Ovechkin added an empty-netter in the final minute. Washington (16-10-3) improved to 11-1-1 at Verizon Center this season. Milan Lucic potted the lone goal for Boston (19-5-4) with 35 seconds left in the second period. The Bruins failed to win for just the third time in 21 games.

“[Johnson] was pretty outstanding and you need that type of goaltending to win,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “This league is too good. When we needed, he was there. He was fabulous.”

Last a full-time starter six years ago for the St. Louis Blues, Johnson is getting his first chance at extended playing time since former Caps goalie Olie Kolzig went down with a knee injury in the second half of the 2006-07 season. Johnson has now started 13 games for the Caps this year even after missing three in a row with a hip injury suffered Nov. 12 against Carolina. He is now 8-4-2 with a 2.47 GAA and a .918 save percentage and has won three straight starts. But when asked if he was deserving of more minutes, Johnson was succinct: “No. I feel that I’m going to play whenever coach tells me to play. That’s it.”

Jose Theodore, signed by Washington to a free-agent contract over the summer to be the No. 1 goalie, has started 16 games. And while Theodore has had his moments, his save percentage is also an ugly .888 and his GAA is over 3.00. But Johnson did tweak his hip again making the save on Kobasew and will not practice today. So Theodore, who played Sunday against Carolina, may be between the pipes sooner than later.

“[Theodore] will get his chance to get in again. I don’t have a controversy by any stretch,” Boudreau said. “He had a similar situation last year [with Colorado] and ended up starting the last 30 games and leading them to a playoff win over Minnesota. But you want to ride the hot hand, Johnnie’s hot right now. This is Johnnie’s first chance maybe since the St. Louis days, to really push himself to see if he can’t play equal games as the other guy, and he’s doing his darndest to stay [in goal].”

Johnson’s highlight saves in the first and second allowed the Caps to build a lead. Backstrom tipped home a power-play shot from Ovechkin at 3 minutes, 53 seconds of the first period for his fourth goal in five games. In the second, Giroux hustled towards a puck near center ice and poked it to teammate Michael Nylander. He then raced to the front of the net and was there to stash a rebound home for his third career NHL goal at 4:52.

But the Caps couldn’t rest after Lucic’s tally late in the second made it 2-1. The Bruins earned some momentum when goalie Manny Fernandez (23 saves) stoned Giroux on a penalty shot early in the third. But Boston couldn’t push across the tying goal on 10 third-period shots and Ovechkin’s empty-netter sealed the win.

“When you have great chances like that and he’s pulling some saves out of thin air you just got to tip your cap to him,” Wheeler said. “[Johnson] kept them in the game and what can you say. Sometimes goaltenders do that.”

Caps notes

» Caps forward Alexandre Giroux last scored an NHL goal on March 18, 2007 against Tampa Bay.

» Alexander Semin returned after missing 12 games with a pulled muscle in his upper back. He had an assist on teammate Alex Ovechkin’s empty-net goal in the third.

» For Ovechkin, his goal and assist give him 10 multi-point nights on the season.

» Attendance at Verizon Center for Wednesday night’s game against the Bruins was 17,697.

» Caps coach Bruce Boudreau had his own take on goalie Brent Johnson’s stick save on Bruins rookie Blake Wheeler.

“I think a veteran would have went up top with that to get a young guy — Blake Wheeler’s going to be a great hockey player in this league — a lot of times they’ll go and they’ll try to slide that in and it’s the goalie’s only defense. A coach once told me — I did that — ‘That’s an American league move you’ll be going down tomorrow.’ Every time I see that that’s exactly what I think of.”