Ovechkin scores 45th goal of season in battle of Eastern Conference giants

 

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Game Information

Arena: TD Banknorth Garden Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Referees: Tom Kowal, Ian Walsh Linesmen: Scott Cherrey, Tim Nowak

Attendance: 17,565 (100.0% full)

Team Stat Comparison
268	Goals	270
240	Goals Against	190
85	Power Play Goals	74
75	Power Play Goals Allowed	54
7	Shorthanded Goals	8
11	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	7
1041	Penalty Minutes	1028
13	Average Penalty Minutes	13

Scoring Summary
1ST PERIOD			WAS	BOS
3:36		Nicklas Backstrom (Power Play) Assists: Alexander Semin, Mike Green	1	0
5:03		Matt Hunwick Assists: Marc Savard, Phil Kessel	1	1
2ND PERIOD			WAS	BOS
8:48		Alex Ovechkin Assists: Matt Bradley, Milan Jurcina	2	1
9:06		Phil Kessel Assists: Marc Savard, Matt Hunwick	2	2
3RD PERIOD			WAS	BOS
2:20		Tomas Fleischmann (Power Play) Assists: Brooks Laich, Tom Poti	3	2
15:23		Zdeno Chara (Power Play) Assists: Patrice Bergeron, Marc Savard	3	3
OT			WAS	BOS
0:22		Alexander Semin Assists: Mike Green, Jeff Schultz	4	3

BOSTON -- Alexander Semin let loose an 80-foot slap shot and improved the Washington Capitals' longshot chances of catching the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference.

Fast Facts

• Alexander Semin scored his 24th goal of the season from just past center ice 22 seconds into OT to give Washington its fourth win in its last five meetings against Boston.

•  Alex Ovechkin recorded his NHL-leading 45th goal as the Capitals recorded their sixth win in their last eight games. For Ovechkin, it was his 31st goal in his last 35 games.

• Washington is now 26-3-1 this season when Ovechkin scores a goal.

• Washington blew three separate leads on the afternoon, and still has not won a regulation game at Boston since Dec. 2, 2000.

-- ESPN research

Semin scored from well outside the blue line on the first shot of overtime Saturday to give the Capitals a 4-3 victory over Boston and help them gain a point on the Bruins in the race for home ice in the East. Washington, which trails Boston by eight points, has won three of the teams' four meetings this year.

"I don't think it gives us any advantage, but it does give us the thought that over four games so far we've been able to compete with maybe the best team in the league," Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said. "If it gets down to it in the [conference] finals ... then it would probably be a good series."

Zdeno Chara scored his 100th career goal with 4:37 left in regulation to force overtime, but it didn't last long. Soon after the first faceoff in overtime, Semin brought the puck over the red line and launched a hard but seemingly harmless slapper at the net that hit off Tim Thomas' glove and trickled through for the winner.

"It's very frustrating. I feel bad for the team that that's the way it had to end," Thomas said. "He who laughs last laughs hardest. We'll see what happens."

Alex Ovechkin scored his league-leading 45th goal of the season for the Capitals, and Jose Theodore made 34 saves. But Theodore let Chara's shot sneak inside the post on his glove side to allow Boston to force overtime and keep the Capitals from gaining two points in the standings.

"We still have 19 games so anything can happen," Ovechkin said. "Every game against them we got at least one point, so it's good for our mentality that we can beat them and it doesn't matter if first or second. I think it's all about us. If we play our game and our system we can beat everybody."

Bruins coach Claude Julien criticized his team's effort but couldn't blame Thomas, who leads the league in goals-against and save percentage.

"He's given us too much to be worried about that," Julien said. "Call it a lucky goal or a bad goal; we can call it what we want. But those are shots that shouldn't go in."

Julien was even more critical of the Capitals, accusing them of getting overconfident because of their head-to-head record.

"I have heard them say they're in our heads," he said. "They do a lot of talking. I don't think they do a lot of research."

Thomas stopped 28 shots for Boston. Marc Savard had three assists, Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist and Matt Hunwick also scored for the Bruins, who lost at home for just the fourth time in their last 27 games. Savard, who left Thursday night's game with an unspecified injury, had two assists for the third time in four games.

Ovechkin scored his 14th goal in 15 games when he squeezed a wrist shot inside the post to beat Thomas and give the Capitals a 2-1 lead 8:48 into the second period. But Kessel scored just 18 seconds later, on a cross-ice pass from Savard to tie it.

Tomas Fleischmann broke the tie with 17:40 left when he banked a shot in off defenseman Dennis Wideman.

Nicklas Backstrom also scored for Washington.

Game notes
Capitals forward Michael Nylander was a healthy scratch. ... Boston forward Milan Lucic, who also sat out the third period of Thursday's game with an injury, was scratched. ... Backstrom extended his point-scoring streak to eight games.