In the first period, the Capitals struck first on defenseman John Carlson’s first goal of the series. Carlson, who only scored 9 goals in the regular season, quieted the crowd with a slapshot from the point, giving Washington a 1-0 lead.

Midway through the second, Bruins fans were getting antsy, as some fans started to boo. However, towards the halfway point of the period, the suddenly red hot Tyler Seguin erupted the crowd by tapping in a dribbling puck to even the game at 1. Seguin knocked in an Andrew Ference slapshot that trickled behind Goalie Braden Holtby. Before Holtby could recover the puck, Seguin sent the Garden crowd in a frenzy.

In the end, it seemed like a tough loss for the Bruins’ to swallow. It wasn’t just that they lost the series, it’s how they lost the series. Their powerplay struggled all series long, going to 2 for 23 on the man advantage. A microcosm of the PP failures was the lost opportunity to seal Washington’s fate With 2:30 left in regulation, Washington’s Jason Chimera was called for holding. While the referees hate calling penalties late in games, this one was a blatant hold. It even seemed that the referee took a few seconds to decide whether to call the penalty, and in the end he gave the Bruins a chance to win the game. But the Bruins failed to capitalize, an ominous omen that their defense of the Cup would end shortly.

And yes, there will be no repeat. No more epic Game 7 wins, no more Tim Thomas brilliance, no more heroes. As Thomas alluded in the post-game conference, the Bruins looked exhausted. Thomas explained that the short off-season and the injuries finally added up to what he described as a “sometimes tired lockerroom”. Milan Lucic also mentioned injuries as a possible excuse, and by saying that the Bruins missed their clutch players from last year, he was implying that they missed Nathan Horton. Horton provided the game-winners in the previous two home game 7’s, and when Horton got injured in the middle of the season the Bruins hadn’t been the same team.

As for the Washington Captials, this could be their year. After being a perennial favorite and failing to reach the Finals, this 7 seed with little expectations may thrive in the underdog role.

This is a tough game to swallow for Bruins fans. Many fans threw towels and water bottles onto the ice, disgruntled that the season came to a surprising end. If anything, this loss should make Boston fans appreciate the magical run of last year. Now, it’s Celtics time!

The Capitals benefited from a few calls that Bruins’ coach Claude Julien heartily disagreed with in his post-game press conference. The first was a play where Bruins defensemen Joe Corvo was badly injured by blocking a shot and the referees used their discretion to allow play to continue (unlike they did when Capitals players were injured in Games 3 and 4.) Capitals’ forward Alex Semin ended up taking advantage of the injured Bruins’ D-man to score the first goal of the game. The other play happened with just over 2 minutes to play in the game, when Benoit Puliout was called for a slashing penalty that ultimately led to the game-winning goal. The call was fairly soft by any measure, especially considering the decisive impact it had on the game. These calls happen however, and if not for a far-out snap shot that fooled Tim Thomas the game would have gone to overtime.
Claude Julien can take some solace in the fact that his line changes going into this game seemed to inspire some of his under-performing players, most notably Brad Marchand. Marchand ended up playing with his regular linemates Patrice Bergeron and Rich Peverley for the game, but pre-game suggestions that Marchand would play with the 4th line seemed to ignite Marchand, leading him to score his first goal of the post-season and explode TD Garden into cheers when the Bruins tied the game at 2 in the second period. The first line of David Krejci centering Tyler Seguin and Milan Lucic, however, has still produced a negligible amount of points this series considering the production that those three put up during the regular season: Krejci and Lucic registered their first points of the series tonight when they both assisted on Dennis Seidenberg’s tally.
The Bruins have been in this situation before. As Johnny Boychuck iterated after the game, the B’s “know how to play solid with [their] backs against the wall”. Last year the B’s were down 2 games to none twice in the playoffs and down 3 games to 2 once. This team is nearly the same as the squad that won the Stanley Cup in historically clutch fashion last year. Tomorrow at 3PM on NBC, the Bruins will have a final chance to continue their defense of the Stanley Cup championship when they faceoff for Game 6 in Washington.

Capitals celebrate Backstrom's OT Winner

The Bruins lost in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday afternoon when Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom sent a wrist shot into the twine just 2:56 into the second overtime session. Game 2 played out much the same as Game 1 did, as a goaltender’s duel between Tim Thomas and Braden Holtby. However, this time it was the Capitals who made the most of their opportunities despite being outshot and outchanced during the game. The first period ended scoreless with both teams exchanging turnovers and powerplays generously. Holtby was tested more than Thomas, and he came up big stopping David Krejci with his shoulder to keep the game knotted 0-0 until the second period. Unsurprisingly, it took some flukey bounces to beat the two stellar netminders in Saturday’s match.

The Capitals got on the board when an Alexander Ovechkin shot was partially blocked, allowing the puck to slide dangerously in front of the Bruins’ net. As Thomas went to pounce on the puck, Caps forward Troy Brouwer whacked the disk underneath Timmy T to give the Caps their first lead of the series. Despite falling behind, the Bruins continued to carry the play; physical forechecking led to turnovers and all lines seemed to be contributing to the offensive effort, especially the 4th line (which was used very frequently by Coach Claude Julien). Still, the B’s couldn’t solve the rookie netminder and they went into the third period trailing by one.

Bruin’s forward Benoit Pouliot capped off a ten-minute span of continuous offensive pressure by his team when he charged for a puck that had settled right in front of Holtby after being partially blocked. The TD Garden erupted as Pouliot chipped the puck over an aggressive attempted poke check by Holtby. The game seemed to stay in the Bruins favor through the rest of the third period and the first overtime period because the Bruins were dominating through the neutral zone offensively and clogging up the passing and shooting lanes effectively on the defensive side. However, the Capitals rookie goaltender kept his team in the game and allowed Backstrom the opportunity to end the game after receiving a pass into the slot. Although Thomas would probably like to have the shot back, the Bruins’ star goaltender played an exceptional game and is proving that he can carry this team through the playoffs once again. But Thomas can’t do it on his own; the only way for the Bruins to advance is to get the top two offensive lines to start producing (currently the Bruins third line has both Boston goals in the series). The B’s will have the chance to get their mojo going on Monday night when the teams face off for Game 3 in Washington D.C. at 7PM

The Capitals, although not having as many chances, did have a few quality opportunities to put the puck in the net, most notably at around five minutes into the third period, Capitals captain and league superstar Alex Ovechkin teed-up a one timer from the faceoff dot to the right of Tim Thomas. Thomas was able to come across his crease and make a spectacular, stretched-out blocker save, robbing the Capitals of their shot to break the stalemate. The untold story of this evening that will be washed into the Bruin’s superb defensive play, is the game played by Thomas. Facing only seven shots in the first two periods combined and seventeen overall, means that Thomas had to be sharp and focused without feeling any rubber. To the casual fan it can be assumed that the less shots the better, but it is no easy task to find a groove in a game where shots are coming in spurts. Thomas made the easy saves well and also managed to make the difficult saves without having many straightforward ones to warm up with.

It seems like the powerplay bug is following the Bruins again this postseason just as it did last year. The B’s were unable to convert on four powerplay opportunities. That’s four chances they squandered to make lives easier on themselves by putting one in the net.

Chris Kelly’s overtime goal was something of a good omen for the Bruins moving forward. Getting those kinds of breaks in the playoffs do not come from chance, but hard work and they are necessary if a team wants to make a deep run in hockey’s second season. The Bruins worked hard and caught a break with an average shooter in Kelly firing a great shot to beat an out-of-position rookie playing in just his 22^nd NHL game. Holtby was stellar all evening and made one mistake at the wrong time, a rookie mistake one would say. Surely the Bruins will come out for game two of the series Saturday night just as physical and determined. More goals would be great, but the B’s know their identity and so does everyone else: smart, rough, and in your face. In my opinion, that sounds like the make-up of a champion.

- Joe Mello, WBRU Sports

The state Coastal Resources Management Council will host the public meeting tonight at URI’s Bay Campus, starting at 6.

So, Gabe and I got to talking, and we brought in special guest Mets fan and baseball expert Jesse Towsen to share a new opinion on who’s going to break out, what division is going to be the tightest, and where all the worst teams are (luckily, far from here).

Hear all about Andy Pettitte getting shunned by Adam’s dad, a bunch of Washington Nationals’ names, why Adam thinks the Pittsburgh Pirates won’t suck, why Jesse and Gabe wholeheartedly disagree with him, and so very much more.

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Baseball. Expansive. Love it.