Talking points from the Bruins' 3-2 loss to Washington on Tuesday . . .
GOLD STAR: Evgeny Kuznetsov is pretty, pretty, pretty good. It was his slick cross-ice pass in the first period that set up Andre Burakovsky for the Caps’ first goal, and then he finished off a play himself in the second period for a power play strike. The goal was a thing of beauty as Kuznetsov spun off the half-wall, walked toward the net and then fired top corner on a shot that Tuukka Rask didn’t have a prayer of stopping. He finished with 20:41 of ice time, two points and a plus-1 rating to go along with five shot attempts, two takeaways and 7-of-13 face-off wins. He was making things happen in the offensive zone for Washington.
BLACK EYE: Zach Sill played 7:57 in the game, and delivered a nasty, reckless and dangerous hit from behind on Adam McQuaid in the second period that knocked the B’s defenseman right out of the game. Even worse, Sill wouldn’t take accountability for his actions, and turned down fights with both Tyler Randell and Zac Rinaldo on a shift later in the game when he had a chance to own up to his borderline actions. If Sill wants to play the grinder, hard hitter role for the Capitals then he should be willing to actually atone for his actions every now and then.
TURNING POINT: The Bruins had their chances to tie it up late in the third period, and their best chance was probably a Zdeno Chara shot that he didn’t get a lot of oomph behind in the closing seconds of the game. It was part of a 13-7 advantage for the Black and Gold in the final period as they tried to push for the tie game. But they couldn’t quite push another puck over the goal line that could have given them a very valuable point vs. Washington. Instead they settle for a moral victory and solid effort in response to last weekend’s limp Winter Classic effort against the Canadiens.
HONORABLE MENTION: Patrice Bergeron was Boston’s best player, and will have to be their best player again on Friday without David Krejci and Brad Marchand when they head out to New Jersey to take on the Devils at the Prudential Center. Bergeron finished with a goal and two points in 20:22 of ice time with six shot attempts, a hit, two takeaways and 14-of-20 face-off wins in another solid all-around performance. He was also the player to go after Zach Sill following his ugly hit from behind on Adam McQuaid that knocked the Bruins defenseman right out of the game. Bergeron’s 15th goal also ties him with Brad Marchand for the team lead in goals, and puts him well above a pace for 30 goals on the season.
BY THE NUMBERS: 0-5 – the B’s record in their last five games against the Capitals where they’ve been outscored by a total margin of 16-3 in goals.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I think we played a bit smarter overall, you know? It’s still a loss but we played better, I thought. Not as many scoring chances defensively from around the net area, so I think that’s an improvement.” –Tuukka Rask, who definitely saw improvement in tonight’s loss to the Caps from the rough loss to the Habs last weekend.