Bruins hope to address road woes in visit to Capitals
The struggle to get their offense in gear went a long way toward the Boston Bruins seeing their 13-game home winning streak come to a halt.
The Bruins will look for better execution on Saturday afternoon when they bid to end a seven-game road losing skid (0-3-4) against the Washington Capitals.
The Capitals halted the Buffalo Sabres' eight-game winning streak on Thursday with a 2-1 victory. It moved Washington within five points of Boston for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Fresh off posting a 3-1 win over the Capitals last Saturday, the Bruins hit the road the following day and dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Boston settled for a split of its ensuing two games, including a 4-2 setback to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday that served as the team's first home loss since Dec. 23.
"We were just looking for that one goal. I think it just didn't happen for maybe too long," Bruins head coach Marco Sturm said after the team yielded the game's first four goals in the latest loss. "It was just a little bit off today. We just weren't as sharp, and they took advantage. We had the chances early on, and we couldn't score. That was the hockey game."
Boston defenseman Hampus Lindholm did not allow himself to get too down after the defeat.
"A lot of belief in this group," Lindholm said. "I think we have some really good pieces, some great guys, and, like I said, we've been playing some good hockey all year. We just have to keep doing it on the road here."
Hours after his wife, Rebecca, gave birth to a daughter, David Pastrnak collected a goal and an assist versus the Sharks to extend his point streak to four games (two goals, four assists). He scored once and set up four other goals in two games this season against the Capitals -- a pair of 3-1 Bruins wins.
Pastrnak leads Boston in assists (54) and points (78). Morgan Geekie, who paces the Bruins with a career-high 34 goals, recorded a goal and an assist in Boston's victory over Washington on Oct. 8.
Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun notched an assist in each game versus the Bruins this season. He scored the go-ahead goal with 1:33 remaining in the third period against Buffalo on Thursday.
Ryan Leonard scored for the third straight game on Thursday and Charlie Lindgren made 29 saves for Washington.
"Before the game, we kind of talked about resolve and character," Lindgren said. "We know where we're at in the standings right now. Our backs are against the wall. The one thing I know about the Washington Capitals is we're not going to quit. We're going to continue to fight, and we showed that (on Thursday). Credit to the guys in front of me. I thought they did a terrific job fighting to the last second."
Aliaksei Protas had an assist in the first meeting with Boston and scored his team's lone goal in the rematch.
Tom Wilson, who scored in the first encounter with the Bruins, is tied with superstar captain Alex Ovechkin for the team lead in goals with 24.