BOSTON — Do you remember when you were in school, what it was like on the last day before holiday break?
As you watched Christmas movies, you drank hot cocoa and wore fuzzy pajamas, which only added to the warm fuzzy feeling you had in anticipation of all the magic and wonder that was soon ahead.
Now imagine instead that you’re teach gave you a test.
That’s what the Boston Bruins had on Monday night at TD Garden, where they had one last game against the Washington Capitals before they could run off and dream of sugar plums.
But not only did the Bruins pass that test, they aced it, taking down one of the Eastern Conference’s top contenders by the final of 4-1.
“There’s a good feeling, obviously, right now in the room because of the way we’re playing,” Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco said. “It’s good to go into the break the way we did tonight, getting on the right side of that feeling.”
Neither the Bruins nor the Caps surrendered much in a tightly contested game that was full of well-played, physical hockey on both sides.
As the game entered the third period tied 1-1, it seemed the Bruins were on their way to a deflating loss after the newly acquired Oliver Wahlstrom was given a game misconduct and a five-minute major penalty for boarding.
But no matter what Washington tried, it had no answers for Boston’s penalty kill and failed to land a single shot on net for the entirety of the extended power play.
The result was a palpable energy shift inside the building and on both benches.
The Bruins had taken command and soon after took the lead when Elias Lindholm swooped in off the rush and outwaited Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren to score his seventh goal of the season at 13:41 of the third period.
Charlie Coyle then added to the tally, as did Brad Marchand, with an empty net goal for good measure, giving Boston’s second line a combined six points and three goals in the win.
“Tere’s a lot of things to like, I think about, our game,” said Coyle. “The way we’re reading off each other, whether we’re coming into the zone and I’m going low, or even if Marchand is going low, or Lindholm is the last guy back and working that out quick so we can transition. A lot of talk helps too, and finishing those plays. Those guys make high-end plays to get some big goals.”
Justin Brazeau put Boston on the board first with a power-play goal at 19:12 of the first period.
While Ferhervary served a minor penalty for boarding, Morgan Geekie ripped a shot on net from above the faceoff circles. Lindgren got in the way of that attempt but couldn’t stop Brazeau from cleaning up the easy rebound for his seventh goal of the season.
It was a power-play goal of their own that the Capitals eventually tied the score with.
While Brandon Carlo sat in the box serving a penalty for interference, all he and the Bruins could do was watch as Jakub Vrana drew Washington even at 4:50 of the second period.
Jeremy Swayman may not have seen the shot at all. Vrana’s one-timer from the right faceoff dot would’ve broken the speed limit on the Mass Pike as it whizzed past the goalie’s ear and into the top corner of the net.