BOSTON — Most of the Washington Capitals opted not to stick around to revel in the silence of TD Garden after their 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday, but Nicklas Backstrom did. He took off his skates and shed his gear. Sweat poured from his brow. He sat for a moment in his dressing room stall as the equipment managers scrambled to pack up around him.
“I really think this is the time when teams are starting to get together and play good hockey,” the veteran center said as his teammates headed for the bus. “It’s going to be tight at the end. Hopefully this will give us a good little boost.”
Coach Peter Laviolette had talked to his team about controlling the decibel level, especially because the sellout crowd fully expected the home team to continue a historic start. Boston entered Saturday as the NHL’s undisputed alpha with 39 wins and 83 points after 51 games, numbers that have the Bruins challenging for the best record in league history. Instead, a raucous pregame crowd fell into a rare hush early in the first period after Backstrom cleaned up a rebound on a five-on-three power play to give the Capitals a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“I’ve been in this building where they scored three goals in the first 10 minutes and the building is erupting, and it makes it that much more difficult place to play,” Laviolette said. “The start was important.”
It was a tone-setting victory for the Capitals, who began the season’s second half in the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot after a 10-day layoff. (This win pushed the Capitals into the first wild-card spot, one point in front of Pittsburgh, which played late Saturday.) Washington caught a break by not facing Linus Ullmark — the Bruins’ top goalie, who leads the NHL in wins and save percentage — but instead 24-year-old backup Jeremy Swayman, who has been solid but not on Ullmark’s all-star level.
The Bruins entered the afternoon second in goals and first in goals against, and they had the league’s best penalty kill and a top-five power play. Yet Washington provided a blueprint for how it plans to make a postseason push: with bone-rattling physicality, structurally sound defense and opportunistic scoring. It started Saturday in the crease, with goaltender Darcy Kuemper making a number of acrobatic saves early and his team protecting him in front of the net.
After making a save in the first, Kuemper withstood a swat at his pad by the Bruins’ Brad Marchand after the whistle had blown. That earned Marchand a fierce crosscheck to the back from Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov. Marchand dropped to his knees and went flying across the ice. A few sticks and gloves went up around him, and penalties were doled out. Not long after, the Capitals had a power play that yielded the goal by Backstrom, who made it 1-0 at 6:28 of a penalty-filled period.
Winger Garnet Hathaway extended the lead to 2-0 at 11:40 of the second after capitalizing on a turnover and sending a wrister past the shoulder of Swayman — with the puck nicking the crossbar on its way in — despite absorbing a crushing hit from Bruins defenseman Connor Clifton. Hathaway remained on his back on the ice and cracked a smile — he lost his mouthpiece on the play — as he pointed to the rafters in celebration.
“He played really well,” Laviolette said. “His nose was dirty tonight. He had a big goal. You just found him the middle of everything.”
Kuemper used every tool at his disposal on his way to 27 saves, at times needing every inch of his 6-foot-5, 215-pound frame to keep the Bruins at bay, which included fully extending his stick to bat away a deflection by Patrice Bergeron with just over six minutes left in the first. Boston finally solved Kuemper when Nick Foligno was left all alone in front and trimmed Boston’s deficit to one with 3:26 left in the second period. But later, Kuemper used his blocker to bat away a knuckling puck from Hall during four-on-four play early in the third.
Marchand and Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin locked horns numerous times, including midway through the third period, when both were whistled for penalties after a tussle. Boston was unable to capitalize — the Capitals helped Kuemper in front during four-on-four play, including a key block by defenseman Nick Jensen — and even after Boston pulled Swayman (21 saves) late and had a six-on-four advantage over the final 25 seconds, the Bruins didn’t have enough to tie it.
“It’s definitely go time for us. You can see that in the urgency in our play,” Kuemper said. “It would have been disappointing to come into this building and not put in the effort we did.”
Here’s what else to know about the Capitals’ win:
Wilson, Dowd still out
Winger Tom Wilson and center Nic Dowd remained out of the lineup with lower-body injuries. Both made progress this past week, but neither practiced with the team. Wilson is listed as day-to-day, and Dowd remains on injured reserve. Washington has amassed 310 man-games missed, the second most in the NHL.
Their continued absences left Washington needing an extra forward, so it recalled Aliaksei Protas from its American Hockey League affiliate Friday. Protas was a healthy scratch Saturday, as was defenseman Alexander Alexeyev.
Backstrom, Johansson stay hot
After returning from offseason hip resurfacing surgery, Backstrom has found his groove and continued his offensive surge with a hard-fought rebound goal in the first period. It came off an assist by Marcus Johansson, who has a point in four straight games (one goal, three assists).
In his past four games, Backstrom has two goals, added an assist and scored the shootout winner against Pittsburgh on Jan. 26.