The Caps opened the scoring at 11:23 of the first period when Matt Hendricks tipped home a shot from defenseman John Carlson. Jason Chimera was credited with the secondary assist. It was Hendricks’ first playoff goal, a waist-high deflection on a hard point shot. That one gave Washington a lead that would last well into the second period as anxiety and tension soon filled TD Garden. But the Bruins finally responded at 14:27 of the second period. Tyler Seguin, who was the hero when he scored the overtime game-winner in Game 6 at Verizon Center on Sunday, was at it again. He won a battle along the boards with Nicklas Backstrom to keep a puck in the offensive zone and then fought his way to the front of the net. Seguin was too much for Washington defenseman Karl Alzner and when a Johnny Boychuk shot caromed off Braden Holtby’s pads, Seguin slammed in a goal while being dropped by Alzner and John Carlson.
That brought the sellout crowd roaring back to life, but neither team could take advantage as the rest of the second and third periods crept along. The Caps failed to scored after Patrice Bergeron was whistled for a hooking penalty with nine minutes left. That appeared to be their last, best chance.
The Bruins, meanwhile, went 0-for-3 on their own power-play attempts and finished 2-for-23 in the series. But the hardest to take was their failure on a Jason Chimera holding call with just 2:26 remaining in the game. But determined work by Washington’s penalty killers halted the Boston momentum and the two teams went to overtime for the fourth time in the series.
Holtby finished with 31 saves on 32 Bruins shots to complete a shocking series where he outdueled Boston star goalie Tim Thomas, last year’s playoff most valuable player and the backbone of the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Instead, they are out after the first round and Washington advances to play either Philadelphia, New Jersey or the New York Rangers in the second round.
