Washington Capitals vs Boston Bruins Box Score on Dec 23, 2019

Patrice Bergeron scored twice, and David Krejci had a goal and two assists to lead the Boston Bruins past the visiting Washington Capitals 7-3 Monday night.

Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle had a goal and an assist, and Jake DeBrusk and Anders Bjork also tallied as the Bruins picked up their second win in their past 10 games (2-4-4). Tuukka Rask stopped 39 shots in net.

Alex Ovechkin, Lars Eller and Garnet Hathaway scored for the Capitals, who lost for only the third time in their past 13 games.

The Bruins scored four goals in the first period, during which the Capitals committed five penalties. Braden Holtby (seven saves) was pulled from the net by Washington at the end of the period; Ilya Samsonov took over and allowed a goal on four shots the rest of the way.

DeBrusk got the scoring started when he wedged the puck under the pad of Holtby on the power play 5:37 into the game. Marchand increased the lead to 2-0 when he put the rebound of a David Pastrnak shot between Holtby's legs at 13:29 to snap a 12-game goal-less drought.

Just 27 seconds later, Bjork made it 3-0 with a snipe right side through traffic. Bergeron completed the scoring in the period on a five-on-three power play off a redirect of a Pastrnak feed at 18:57.

Early in the second period, it appeared the Capitals put the puck in their own net on a delayed penalty. However, as explained on Boston's TV broadcast, the referees told the NHL Situation Room they blew the play dead before the puck crossed the goal line, and thus it was not reviewable.

Washington went on the power play, and Boston made the score 5-0 anyway when Coyle put home his 100th NHL goal on the shorthand at 6:55.

Ovechkin got the Capitals on the board at 14:35 of the second period, and Eller and Hathaway alternated goals with Krejci and Bergeron -- both on an empty net -- in the final five minutes of the third.

Playing without captain Zdeno Chara (jaw infection), Boston lost two more defensemen to injury as Torey Krug (upper body) didn't return after a second-period hit, and Charlie McAvoy appeared to get hurt following a late hit from T.J. Oshie in the waning minutes.

--Field Level Media