BOSTON — The Boston Bruins put in a solid effort, but their losing skid reached nine games after they dropped a 4-3 decision to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at TD Garden.
The Bruins found themselves chasing the game in the first period after self-inflicted mistakes led to a 2-0 Capitals lead.
“Obviously a tough start,” Bruins forward David Pastrnak said. “It started with me taking a penalty (while we were) on the power play, and them getting a shorthanded goal. Credit to us, we battled back.
“We stick up for each other. There’s been fights, amazing fights. We stick together as a group, fight to get back in the game. We were right there going into the third.”
One of the “amazing fights” Pastrnak alluded to was the heavyweight tilt between Bruins forward Jeffrey Viel and Capitals defenseman Dylan Mcllrath. The fight lasted just about a minute, with both skaters trading punches before slowing down and the referees stepping in.
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“Just trying to bring the energy,” Viel said. “We talked about it in the first, and it didn’t happen. So, yeah, down 2-1 there, just trying to create a spark there.”
Viel impressed interim head coach Joe Sacco with his willingness to drop the gloves to help ignite the Bruins.
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“Viel did a great job there,” Sacco said. “Standing up for himself and the team there. The crowd and everybody feeds off of that. It’s a credit to him.
“But after the first, we just had to decide if we were going to get back to playing the way we did in Detroit. … They got it going in the second. Started to play with more emotion and more passion in the second period. You could see that.”
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Here are more notes from Tuesday’s Bruins-Capitals game:
— With the loss, the Bruins fell to 30-36-9 and moved into last place in the Eastern Conference. It is the first time Boston has been in last place in April since the 1996-97 season, per 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson.
“No matter what position we are, we’re still in the NHL and playing in the best league,” Pastrnak said. “There’s no day you can take for granted in here. You’re wearing a Boston Bruins jersey. Pride and compete have to be there every day, whether it’s practice or game day.
“That’s what the leaders before us built here. We’re going to look to keep it going. We have seven games left. The compete level and the passion showing up every day to work has to be really, really high.”
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— Pastrnak scored two goals in the game to bring his season total to 37 with seven games remaining. Morgan Geekie had the primary assists on both goals.
“It’s been so much fun to watch,” Pastrnak said of the growth to Geekie’s game. “He’s been getting better with every game and every practice. He wants to get better and he works on his game.
“Obviously, you play together for a while, you’re able to find chemistry. It’s been good. I’m so happy to see him play. He battles hard and is becoming a heck of a hockey player. We all know about his shot. He can see those plays, and you have to respect his shot.”
— Alex Ovechkin moved closer to catching the all-time goal-scoring record with a power-play tally in the first period. His 38th goal of the season marks the 891st of his career. He is three shy of the record held by Wayne Gretzky.
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— The Bruins head north of the border to face the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. Puck drop from the Bell Centre is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can catch all the action on NESN following an hour of pregame coverage.
