Brad Marchand scored a second period game winning shorthanded goal on Thursday night, as the Boston Bruins made it two wins in a row with a 4-2 victory over the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
Jeremy Lauzon opened the scoring for Boston (21-10-6) just 33 seconds into the game, firing a shot from the point that eluded Washington goalie Ilya Samsonov to make it 1-0. The Bruins would double the lead when Anton Blidh got a fortunate bounce off the back boards when a Capitals defenseman tried to clear the puck, shoveling it into a half empty net at 16:02 of the first unassisted. It was the second career goal for Blidh.
Marchand got the game winner at 4:09 of the second while shorthanded. He would skate in down the left wing and into the bottom of the left faceoff circle, before cutting to the middle of the low slot on a curl and drag move and lifting a backhander over Samsonov to make it 3-0. The Capitals cut the deficit to a goal taking advantage of a pair of 5 on 3 powerplays. Alex Ovechkin scored his 20th of the season at 10:08, before T.J. Oshie made it 3-2 just 19 seconds later. Craig Smith would wrap up the Boston win at 16:55 of the third period on the powerplay. A centering pass deflected off the skate of former Bruin Zedeno Chara and right to Smith who fired it home from the bottom of the right faceoff circle.
Jeremy Swayman is now 2-0 to start his NHL career, making 31 saves. Marchand and Smith both had a goal and an assist. The Bruins win two in a row for the first time in 24 games. Samsonov made 28 stops in the loss for Washington, who has their record fall to 25-11-4. Oshie had a goal and an assist for the Caps. Boston visits Philadelphia again on Saturday afternoon to battle the Flyers.
