Seven-time Emmy Award-winner Mike ‘Doc’ Emrick, who is in his 15th season as NBC Sports’ lead NHL play-by-play commentator, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame member Eddie Olczyk and ‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst Brian Boucher will call Bruins-Capitals from Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Tonight's Officials
Referees Francois St. Laurent (8), Jon McIsaac (2)
Linesmen Travis Gawryletz (67), Jonny Murray (95)
TONIGHT’S GAME - The Bruins visit the Capitals tonight in the 2nd of 3 games between these teams this season and the Bruins’ lone visit of the season to Capital One Arena … The Bruins are 20-5-6 thus far this season & are 8-4-1 on the road … They are 6-0-2 vs. Metropolitan Division opponents & are 13-3-5 vs. Eastern Conference foes. - The Bruins are playing game 2 tonight of a 4-game road trip tonight, continuing in TB on 12/12 & FLA on 12/14 … They will then return to Boston for 4 straight at home starting with LA on 12/17. - They are opening their 5th of 13 sets of back-to-back games this season … They are currently 4-0-0 in the 1st game of those sets and are 2-1-1 in the 2nd games so far. - The Bruins are playing their 4th & 5th of 11 sets of 3-games-in-4-nights this season … They are 3-1-0 in game 1s, 3-0-0 in game 2s and 2-1-0 in game 3s of those series
MILESTONES APPROACHING - Charlie Coyle is 1 goal shy of his 100th NHL goal. - Jake DeBrusk is 1 points short of his 100th NHL point. - Danton Heinen is 6 points shy of his 100th NHL point.
INJURIES (Total man-games lost in 2019-20: 149) - Karson Kuhlman: Hairline nondisplaced fracture to right tibia (IR) - Kevan Miller: Knee (LTIR) - Zach Senyshyn – Lower body (LTIR) - Note – Anton Blidh is listed as an injured non-roster player
BOSTON vs WASHINGTON, LIFETIME SERIES - The Bruins and Capitals are meeting for the 162nd time in their histories with the Bruins having a 77-51-21-12 record and 514-454 scoring advantage in those games. - The Bruins are 35-26-12-7 lifetime in road games vs. the Capitals with a 248-237 scoring edge in those 80 contests. - The Bruins are 1-0-1 in their last 2 games vs. the Capitals, including a 3-2 shootout loss in Boston on 11/16 in the 1st game of this season’s series … A 1-0 win in Washington on 2/3/2019 in the previous game between these teams snapped an 0-11-3 overall stretch dating back to a 4-2 road win on 3/29/2014 … Boston went 0-5-2 in Washington between those 2 victories.
The Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins, two of the NHL's top teams, will square off Wednesday night in the nation's capital as both try to rebound from less-than-stellar games.
Both teams are coming off 5-2 losses. Columbus defeated the Capitals in Washington on Monday night to end a six-game winning streak. The Capitals could not get their offense going, thanks to aggressive forechecking from the Blue Jackets, and never took the lead.
Boston fell to Ottawa by that same score. The Bruins had won eight in a row but now are 0-2-1 in their past three games.
Heading into Tuesday's games, Washington was tops in the NHL with 49 points while Boston sat right behind at 46. Also, the Capitals were first in the league with 117 goals scored while the Bruins ranked third with 107.
The Bruins also lead the league in goal differential. They are plus-29 after the loss to Ottawa.
For Washington, the good news coming out of the loss to Columbus was the return of Nicklas Backstrom, who missed eight games with an upper-body injury.
Backstrom got a goal and an assist but it wasn't enough on a night when the Capitals struggled. They got off to a slow start that let Columbus take control early.
"There's a lot of parity in the league," Washington coach Todd Reirden said on the team's site. "You've got to be on top of your game or you're susceptible to coming up on the wrong end of things. We've been really consistent obviously through 30-plus games of doing that, and (in this game) we had a bad start, and it cost us."
The Capitals were returning home after a four-game road trip, which included a three-game swing through California. They won all of the games before coming out flat on Monday as the Blue Jackets outshot them 20-6 in the first period, but goalie Braden Holtby kept it at 1-0 after one as it could have been much worse.
Boston also will be trying to turn things around in the meeting against Washington. The good news for the Bruins was that Patrice Bergeron returned to the lineup Monday after a lower-body injury sidelined him for nine of the last 11 games.
Bergeron scored in the loss Monday, and the Bruins are hoping he can stay healthy. Also in the loss, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak both added two assists.
Boston had beaten Ottawa in their last 10 meetings before the loss on Monday night.
Coach Bruce Cassidy said his team needs to keep playing hard for all 60 minutes, and he wants to see better energy.
"We're going through a tough stretch in terms of getting our energy level where it needs to be," Cassidy said on NHL.com after the Ottawa loss. "If you're not competing hard on the puck, around the puck, on the puck, in this league, you're not going to beat anybody."
Cassidy told the media on Tuesday that the Bruins need to return to enjoying the game while doing what's needed to win. He said they've got to do a better job of balancing the two areas.
Last edited:
