Bruins 1, Capitals 0 (OT)
BOSTON - Chris Kelly scored 1:18 into overtime and the Bruins began defense of their Stanley Cup title with a 1-0 win over the Washington Capitals Thursday night.
Just after the Capitals had a chance at one end, Benoit Pouliot hit Kelly with a pass down the left side, and Kelly blasted a slap shot past goaltender Braden Holtby for the only goal of the game.
Game 2 is Saturday in Boston before the series shifts to Washington for Games 3 and 4.
The goal came on Kelly's only shot of the game.
Tim Thomas, the hero of last year's playoffs, stopped all 17 Washington shots, the last before the winning goal for his sixth playoff shutout, moving into a tie for second place on the Bruins' all-time playoff list. It was his second straight playoff shutout; the other ending the Cup run against Vancouver last June 15.
It was Boston's first 1-0 overtime playoff win since March 3, 1935.
The Capitals, outplayed for the first two periods in terms of scoring chances, had the better of it in the third period, with Thomas coming up with a big save on Alexander Ovechkin on the power play, with Zdeno Chara in the penalty box.
The Bruins went just under 11 minutes without a shot in the third, but Holtby poke-checked a charging Kelly, who had broken around the defense and was in on top of the goaltender. The Bruins failed to score on six straight minutes of power play time at the end of the first period and into the second. Jay Beagle went off for four minutes for high sticking David Krejci with 1:33 left in the second period.
The Caps, who had wasted a power play earlier in the second period, killed the double minor, but just as Beagle was returning, Troy Brouwer cleared a rolling puck over the glass for another two minutes.
Again, the Bruins failed to score and, even though Boston had a 10-0 shots advantage in the first 10 minutes of the second period, neither team was on the board.
Boston went back on the power play, a 4-on-3 (for 1:36), when goalie Holtby took a shot at Kelly in the crease and was called for roughing. The Bruins made it 0-for-4 on the power play and the game remained tied.
It was 0-0 after two, even though the Bruins held a 26-7 shots advantage, 17-2 in the second period.
NOTES: The Capitals took the season series, 3-1, winning both games in Boston, the second in a shootout. ... Ovechkin came in with 50 points in 37 playoffs games, his 1.35 average the fourth-best in NHL history. ... The Bruins were without right wing Nathan Horton, declared out of the playoffs because of his second concussion in less than a year, and defenseman Adam McQuaid, out with an eye/head injury. Goalie Tuukka Rask, making his way back from a groin injury, is close to being able to return and back up Thomas. Defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who missed two games with a left knee injury, returned to the lineup. ... Boston defenseman Andrew Ference appeared in his 100th playoff game. ... The Boston College hockey team, which just recorded the program's third national title in the last five years, was saluted by the crowd during a first-period stoppage.
