Holtby, Caps Steal Game Four 2-1
Friday, April 20, 2012
In hockey, a hot goaltender can be the great equalizer. That was the case Thursday night in Washington. As a result, they’re headed back to Boston all even at two.
Thanks to the sensational effort of Braden Holtby, the Washington Capitals defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1 to tie the series at two games each. And what was once a best of seven series has now been reduced to a best-of-three with two of those three games scheduled to be played at the TD Garden.
Despite a strong effort Thursday, the Bruins never led at Washington. The Caps jumped out to a 1-0 lead just 1:22 into the first period when Marcus Johansson beat Tim Thomas from the right circle on a 2-on-1. Brian Rolston tried to break up the pass but failed and the Caps had the early lead.
Boston tied the game 1-1 with 6:48 to play in the first on Rich Peverley’s second goal of the series. Peverly lit the lamp on a 3-on-2 beating Holtby from the right circle.
Despite dominating the Caps in the first period (they outshot Washington 14-3), the game remained tied 1-1 after the first 20 minutes.
Boston’s offensive assault continued in the second period where they peppered Braden Holtby with 18 more shots. Unfortunately, they were unable to get any of those 18 attempts past the Caps netminder.
Meanwhile, Washington took advantage of a power play late in the second when Patrice Bergeron went to the box with 2:07 to play in the period on a very questionable hooking call. Fifty seconds later, Alexander Semin scored his second of the series on a snapshot from the left circle beating Tim Thomas for the 2-1 advantage.
The Bruins continued to bring the heat in the third by Holtby was a stone wall between the pipes for Washington. The 22-year-old stopped 13 Boston shots in the third period, and 44 of 45 for the game. His stellar play is the main reason that this series is heading back to Boston all even at two.
NOTES:
-B's coach Claude Julien didn't want any pats on the back for his team dominating play Thursday night. After the game he said that he was very unhappy with his team for not doing a better job of crashing the net and making life more difficult for Holtby.
-All in all, the Bruins outshot Washington 45-21 in game 4. It was Boston’s best offensive game of the series as many of those 45 shots were quality scoring opportunities.
-The Bruins only had one power play in game 4 while Washington had 3. Early in the third, the Bruins should have had one when Chris Kelly was clearly tripped by Washington’s John Erskine. But the refs didn’t make the call. It wasn’t until Mike Knuble got called for holding Johnny Boychuck midway through the third that Boston enjoyed the man advantage. As it turns out, it didn’t matter. Boston’s power play has been inept in the series going 0 for 12 thus far. Washington is 2 for 12 with the man advantage in the series having scored on the power play in each of the last two games.
-It bares repeating, but Tim Thomas has played good but not great in this series. Thomas stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced in game 4 but it was Holtby who stood on his head like Thomas did a year ago.
-After an off day Friday, the B’s and Caps will play back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday in Boston and Washington respectively.
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