Elias Lindholm and Charlie Coyle scored third-period goals within a span of 2:18 as the Boston Bruins surged past the visiting Washington Capitals 4-1 on Monday night.
After the Bruins killed off a five-minute major penalty and went scoreless on a power play in the final frame, Lindholm took captain Brad Marchand’s feed off the rush and slipped a backhand shot into an open side of the net for the go-ahead goal with 6:19 left in regulation.
Marchand’s two goals and an assist led the Bruins, who will carry their first five-game point streak of the season (4-0-1) into the holiday break. The Boston captain now has points in 10 consecutive games for the third time in his career.
Coyle (one goal, one assist) netted the first insurance marker with 4:01 left, scoring on a rebound after Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren (18 saves) robbed Marchand’s initial shot.
Marchand added an unassisted empty-netter with 1:22 left.
Justin Brazeau also scored and Jeremy Swayman needed to make only 10 saves for Boston.
Jakub Vrana scored his third goal in as many games for Washington, which took only its fourth loss in a 14-game span (10-3-1).
Boston had a 22-11 advantage in shots.
The Bruins played about half of the game without star winger David Pastrnak, who was hurt on a neutral-ice hit in the second period. He did not take a shift after the 8:23 mark of the middle frame and was not on the team’s bench to start the third.
Boston converted for a game-opening power-play goal at the tail end of a low-event first period. Brazeau put back the rebound of Morgan Geekie’s shot while stationed at the net front with 47.2 seconds left before the intermission.
After logging only three shots on goal in the first, the visitors equalized with a man-up goal of their own at the 4:50 mark of the second. Rasmus Sandin dished to set up Vrana for a one-time blast into the top corner from the circle.
Bruins forward Oliver Wahlstrom, who slid into the injured Pastrnak’s position on the power play, was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for a hit into the corner boards on the Capitals’ Martin Fehervary just 10 seconds into the third. Washington mustered only one shot on goal during the ensuing five-minute advantage.
–Field Level Media