Nicklas Backstrom had three points and Alex Ovechkin continued to climb the NHL’s goal-scoring charts as the Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 5-3 on Wednesday night.
The Bruins’ winning streak ended at three, and they got a scare when center Patrice Bergeron took a slap shot off his right leg. League-leading Washington extended its winning streak against Boston to eight.
Backstrom had a goal and two assists, setting up T.J. Oshie and Ovechkin, who passed Ron Francis for 27th on the all-time list. Brett Connolly and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for the Capitals, who got 29 saves from Braden Holtby.
Despite allowing two power-play goals to fellow All-Star Brad Marchand and a late goal to David Krejci, Holtby improved to 11-2-0 against the Bruins in the regular season.
Bergeron blocked a shot from Washington’s Matt Niskanen 2:33 into the second period and needed to be helped off the ice and down the tunnel. The alternate captain who once played a 2013 Stanley Cup Final game with a broken rib and a punctured lung, returned for two shifts before leaving again.
It was that kind of night for the Bruins, who like the Capitals were playing the second half of back-to-back games.
Backstrom, who threaded a pass through two Boston defenders for Oshie’s 19th goal of the season on a breakaway 3:06 in, seems to be at his best versus Boston. Beating goaltender Tuukka Rask with a one-timer and contributing a secondary assist to Ovechkin’s goal, Backstrom now has 34 points in 30 career games against the Bruins.
As much as Backstrom tears up the Bruins, Ovechkin is doing so to the entire NHL lately. He has 17 points in his past 12 games, and his 25 goals are second to only longtime rival Sidney Crosby.
Scoring on a deceptive wrist shot on the power play late in the second period, Ovechkin moved past Wayne Gretzky and tied Joe Sakic for 14th all-time with his 205th career power-play goal.
An influx of offense from the top line of Ovechkin, Backstrom and Oshie was enough to offset Marchand’s third two-goal game in his past four. He’s the first Bruins player to do that since Hall of Famer and current team president Cam Neely in 1992.
Marchand, who has been criticized for a recent spate of trips and slew foots, assisted on Krejci’s goal and has nine points in his past four games.
The Bruins host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. The Capitals visit the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday in a matchup of the Eastern Conference divisional leaders.
NOTES: Starting for the second consecutive night, Rask allowed five goals on 22 shots. … Capitals RW Justin Williams missed the game with an undisclosed lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day. … Referee Garrett Rank took puck to the face when a shot by Ovechkin banked off the glass and went down to the ice for a few seconds. Rank got up, laughed it off and didn’t miss a shift.
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