Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game 4 (Series tied 2-2)
Capitals 2, Bruins 1 (Recap | Box score)
Braden Holtby: It's apparent that as he goes in this series so do the Capitals. He was spectacular again in Game 4, much sharper than he was in Game 3 when he surrendered four goals and misplayed a few pucks. About 26 minutes through the game Holtby had already faced 25 shots, only one of which beat him. The Caps were in a position to take the game because of him.
I can't imagine many people foresaw him being the better goalie in this series between he and Tim Thomas but through four games, he has been.
Johnny Boychuk's penalty mid-way through the second period. Before the penalty the shots on goal were 25-6 in favor of the Bruins and the only reason the game was tied 1-1 was Holtby. But the power play had some golden opportunities for both Dennis Wideman and Alex Ovechkin. They didn't cash in on the man advantage but it got them some traction in the game and flipped the ice.
As a result of that power-play's lift, the Caps outshot the Bruins 12-7 the rest of the period, including Alexander Semin's go-ahead goal ... also on a power play.
An escape. The Capitals were overwhelmed in the shots department from start to finish but the series is back to square one. Again, they can thank Holtby for getting them out of it. For a lot of the season the Caps have been playing this way, with fire by being outshot in games and a lot of times it worked out. This was another one of those times.
You never know how the losing team, in this case the Bruins, will react. Because they can feel that they did enough to win but didn't. Do you take that as a positive or is it deflating that your best didn't get it done?
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