Patrice Bergeron scored two goals including the game winner in the second period, and Tuuka Rask made 40 saves as the Boston Bruins eliminated the Washington Capitals with a 3-1 victory in game five of a Stanley Cup First Round Playoff Series at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC on Sunday night. Boston wins the series 4-1.
Boston broke a scoreless tie in the second period on a spectacular goal by David Pastrnak. Mike Reilly kept the puck in the Washington zone at the blue line, and shuffled it off to Pastrnak near the high slot. Pastrnak deeked defenseman Nic Dowd by going between his legs at the left faceoff dots, cut to the net and tucked it under the left pad of goalie Ilya Samsonov at 2:28. Bergeron got the difference maker at 14:05, as Reilly figured into the second tally as well. The defenseman picked up a loose puck near the boards at center ice, and got it to the captain who skated across the blue line and beat Samsonov with a knuckle of a wrist shot under the blocker from the high slot to make it 2-0.
Washington cut it to a goal right off the opening faceoff of the third period. On a dump in to the Bruins zone, Conor Sheary got a shot in on Rask from the low slot that was stopped but he fired in his own rebound 11 seconds in. Boston finished it off when Bergeron took advantage of a turnover at 12:25 and fired in a shot from the left faceoff circle with the goalie screened. The Capitals continued to pepper Rask with shots on net, but the netminder stood tall to send his team to the second round of the playoffs.
Bergeron (two goals), Pastrnak (one goal, one assist), and Reilly (two assists) all finished with two points on the night for Boston. T.J. Oshie and Dmitry Orlov assisted on the Sheary goal in the loss for Washington, and Samsonov made 16 shots as the Caps outshot the Bruins 41-19. Washington finishes their season with a final record of 37-19-5. The powerplay struggled in the loss, going 1-11 with the extra man over the final two games (3-21 in the series). Boston (37-17-7) will face the winner of Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders in round two. That series is currently tied 2-2.
