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The Washington Capitals’ locker room doors stayed shut for 15 minutes after Wednesday night’s game ended, the team in the midst of a players-only meeting. The Capitals had just beaten the Boston Bruins in overtime, 4-3, but the fashion in which they did, surrendering an early three-goal lead, prompted an extended chat.
After the Capitals got off to a strong start with two goals from Justin Williams and one from Daniel Winnik, the team wasn’t able to maintain control. Washington’s half of the shot counter on the scoreboard appeared frozen, as more than 26 minutes ticked by without a shot on goal. In that span, the Bruins fired a steady stream of pucks at Holtby and erased a 3-0 lead to force overtime.
Nicklas Backstrom then scored from the right faceoff circle 96 seconds into the overtime. But escaping with the two points wasn’t satisfactory for the Capitals.
“Every time when you let teams back from a 3-0 lead, it’s not good enough,” Backstrom said. “We want to be a better team. We want to play tight. We want to be able to shut teams down. I thought they really outplayed us in the second and third period. Really, we were lucky to get two points, to be honest. I think that’s on us, and that’s maybe why we had a little talk.”
The Bruins were able to cap their comeback when Tom Wilson hit Anton Blidh along the benches, and the Bruins took exception to the hit, a scrum breaking out as a result. When the dust settled, Wilson had been called for interference, and Washington’s Jay Beagle and Dominic Moore were sent to the penalty box with matching roughing minors.
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