Holtby, Caps shut down Bruins for 3rd time
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) - Braden Holtby turned aside all 27 shots he faced and pulled into a tie alongside Montreal's Carey Price and Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury with an NHL-best ninth shutout of the season, and Washington topped Boston by a 3-0 count on Wednesday at Verizon Center.
Holtby finished the year blanking the Bruins three times, stopping 88-of-88 shots in that span.
"We seem to play well against them," he said. "I don't know if it is a coincidence or what. I think they are a team that we've had a lot of respect for in the past. When the Bruins are our opponent, it kind of gives us a little extra jump knowing that we can't give them anything. It's good that we played so well against them."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Goals from John Carlson, Matt Niskanen and Marcus Johansson paced the Caps, who have won five of their last six and reached the 100-point plateau for the first time since 2010-11.
Tuukka Rask made 30 saves for the Bruins, who failed to gain any ground on idle Ottawa and are now tied for the last wild-card spot in the East. Both clubs have 95 points and two games remaining.
The hosts essentially wrapped up the contest by striking twice in a span of 2:17 early in the first period.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Carlson struck with 4:49 on the clock, whipping home a shot from the right circle after gathering a cross-ice dish from Nicklas Backstrom.
It was 2-0 at 7:06 after Troy Brouwer won a battle on the right-wing boards, chipping back to Backstrom, who fed Niskanen for a successful point drive.
"The first period really was the downside of our game tonight," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "We didn't do enough to generate even a power play. You've got to be able to get on the inside on these guys. They're big, they're strong and at this point, I think I'd have expected a little bit more out of certain players."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Johansson added the Capitals' final marker with 2:13 left in the middle stanza, when he slid towards the right post and one-timed an Evgeny Kuznetsov centering feed.
Holtby nailed down the victory by turning away five shots in the third.
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Holtby tied a Washington single-season franchise shutout record first set by Jim Carey in his Vezina Trophy campaign of 1995-96 ... The Capitals finish the regular season on Saturday by hosting the Rangers ... The Bruins head to Florida on Thursday and Tampa Bay on Saturday ... Washington also recorded 100-or-more points in 1983-86, 1999-2000 and 2008-11.