Impact player
Bruins third-liner Chris Kelly is one of the steadiest defensive players in the game. But he made the Capitals pay early in overtime on a counterattack. With room up the left wing, he drilled a shot past Braden Holtby in the far corner.
Under the radar
It took until overtime for Boston finally to get to Caps rookie goalie Braden Holtby. Despite four power plays against, he stayed strong in his crease. In his first postseason start, Holtby finished with 29 saves in the 1-0 loss.
Did you notice …
Washington didn’t back down physically? Winger Troy Brouwer dropped 6-foot-9 defenseman Zdeno Chara with a hit late in second period. Earlier, Alex Ovechkin and defenseman Dennis Seidenberg destroyed each other at center ice.
From the bench
Boston coach Claude Julien did as expected, employing star defenseman Zdeno Chara heavily against winger Alex Ovechkin and Washington’s top line. Chara finished with 21:46 of ice time.
Dale Hunter made a tactical decision, too. He chose to split Alex Ovechkin from star center Nicklas Backstrom, who was instead on second line. That forced the Bruins to choose whom to use Chara against.
