Ward, Knuble lead Caps in 2-1 (OT) elimination win over defending champ Bruins

BOSTON - From healthy scratch to hero.

Joel Ward was a frequent scratch down the stretch of the regular season, while Mike Knuble didn't suit up for the first three games of the playoffs.

But Wednesday night, they shared the hero's role as the seventh-seeded Capitals knocked the defending-champion Bruins from the playoffs with a 2-1 overtime win in Game 7 of the first-round series.

Ward converted a rebound of a Knuble shot 2:57 into the OT, sending the Caps into the second round against an as-yet to be determined opponent, leaving the 1998 Red Wings as the last championship winning team to repeat.

It was Ward's first goal not into an empty net since Jan. 7.

"When it comes playoff time you never know who's going to score the goals," Washington coach Dale Hunter said after Ward's first goal of the playoffs ended a series that featured four overtime games and one-goal decisions in all seven.

Hunter, who replaced the fired Bruce Boudreau in late November, called the two players, "good guys, character guys."

Boston's Benoit Pouliot tried to slap the puck into the Washington zone, but it went right to Knuble, who took off with Ward on a 2-on-1. Tim Thomas stopped the first shot, but Ward swept in to backhand the rebound for his first goal of the series and just the 10th of his NHL career.

"I just saw the puck lying there and I just took a whack at it and it went in," said Ward, who had a point in each of the last three games of the series after going point-less in the first four. "I just kind of saw it and then gave it one of the hardest whacks I've ever given a puck."

Said Knuble, an ex-Bruin: "It hit me right in the shins. I knew they were all going for a change. Ward wasn't going to get the pass. I was going right to the crease with that one. I'm glad he added the finish there at the end."

Added Hunter, "Knu-bie blocked the shot and took off and Ward-o went with him and they got rewarded for it. They had a good game going the whole game. I thought they were playing very well."

Thomas, last year's Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff MVP, and author of three Game 7 wins last year, the last two by shutout, was obviously disappointed that he wasn't able to repeat.

"I don't know. I'm, I'd have to say I'm probably in shock," Thomas said.

The winning goal capped a dream series by Washington rookie goalie Braden Holtby, who played all seven games and stunned the Bruins, just as rookie goalie Ken Dryden stopped the Bruins for Montreal in the playoffs four decades ago.

"Holtzie is a kid ... nothing phases him," said Hunter.

Added Holtby, "If I got rattled I wouldn't be here right now. It's one of those things that I've learned in order to get to this level. I've had to work on it and get better at it and obviously it has paid off."

The Caps won't know who they will play until the Rangers-Senators and Devils-Panthers play their own respective deciding seventh games Thursday night. They will again be the lower seed, but this is a talented team that underachieved for so much of the season before turning it on.

This was the first time in NHL history that all seven games of a playoff series were decided by one goal. Each team won two overtime games.

The victory was the Caps' third of the series on Bruins ice, and Washington has the same number of wins, five, on TD Garden ice as the Bruins since March 8.

Washington's Matt Hendricks and Game 6 overtime hero Tyler Seguin traded goals in regulation.

The second-seeded Bruins were given an ovation from their home crowd and raised their stick in salute to the fans before leaving the ice.

"It's hard to swallow, tough to understand right now," said Patrice Bergeron. "I think obviously it's going to take us a couple of days to sink that one in; we obviously weren't ready for being done right now."

The Bruins had a chance to win the game in the closing minutes of regulation when Jason Chimera went off for holding at 17:34. But the Boston power play could muster nothing, dropping to 0-for-3 for the game and 2-for-23 in the series.

NOTES: Washington star Alexander Ovechkin, not as freewheeling as he used to be while fitting into Hunter's defensive system, finished with just two goals in the seven games. "The feeling is great," he said. ... This was the fifth Game 7 in their last six series for the Bruins. ... Bergeron, playing despite an upper body injury, again toiled at right wing because his injury doesn't allow him to take face-offs. ... The Caps are 3-7 in Game 7s, just 1-1 on the road. Boston is 12-11 all-time in Game 7s. ... Washington dressed defenseman Jeff Schultz in favor of John Erskine, while rugged right wing Shawn Thornton was a healthy scratch for the second straight game for the Bruins, who needed to dress Jordan Caron in case he had to move up the line chart if Bergeron couldn't continue.