BOSTON – “Every game we play the rest of the way is the most important game of the year,” Charlie McAvoy said after the Bruins’ loss on Thursday night.
The Bruins (35-22-5) bounced back into the win column on Saturday with a 3-1 win over the Washington Capitals (31-25-7). Pavel Zacha scored on the power play, though the unit still has not been the same since returning from the Olympic break. After the game, there was praise for Viktor Arvidsson, who scored the game-winning goal.
The win also marked the team’s 12th straight on home ice.
“I think it’s playing in front of our own fans,” Pavel Zacha said after the game. “Just how we get ready for the games. It’s just been working for us. I think always home is a little bit [of an] advantage, but I think for us this year, we just want to play at home, get the crowd into it, and it always helps.”
“That’s something that good teams do, win at home, so we have to keep doing that.”
Zacha scored the first goal of the game on a power play in the second period. He batted his own rebound behind Logan Thompson for his sixth power play goal of the season.
Although they scored, the Bruins went 1-for-6 on the man-advantage. They took 11 shots on their six opportunities.
“Yeah, we’re not there yet,” Marco Sturm said about the power play. “I know we scored today, but the flow was a little bit missing today, too. That’s part of the power play, too. Sometimes you get in those little stretches. But as soon as you are going to score one or two or even have a good one or good two power plays [to] get things going right away, the other way.”
The Bruins have scored three power-play goals since returning from the Olympic break. They have had 19 opportunities (15.8%). In that stretch, though, they allowed a shorthanded goal, bringing their power play goal differential to two.
“We got to make sure we got to be better because we need that power play,” Sturm added. “We had plenty of opportunities today to maybe get the lead a little bit earlier because of it. They’ve been so good all year long, so we just got to make sure they are going to stay on top of it.”
On the other end of the ice, the penalty kill went 3-for-3 on Saturday. Since the Olympic break, the penalty kill has gone 14-for-15.
Coming out of the break, Marco Sturm said that his “biggest homework” during the time off was improving the penalty kill and decreasing the number of penalties.
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Viktor Arvidsson scored the game-winning goal at the 4:28 mark of the third period. Casey Mittelstadt assisted with a pass that sent Arvidsson all alone on a breakaway.
“Our line is playing well,” Viktor Arvidsson said. “We’re sticking together and playing a good brand of hockey.”
Pavel Zacha is on a four-game point streak (1-4–5). Mittelstadt has three points in the last three games (1-2–3), and Arvidsson has three points in the last two (2-1–3).
“It’s a good mix,” Marco Sturm said about the second line. “They play against the top lines in the league; they shut them down, but also find ways to score. And because they’re all different, it seems like, and all have pretty good hockey IQ, they’ve all been around a long time. I think it’s just a combination that fits very well. And that’s why they’ve been my most consistent line all year long.”
“Amazing add to our team,” Pastrnak said of Arvidsson. “He’s been playing great. The second line is kind of is the pretty much the only line that has been together for the whole season. They got chemistry right from the hop from the beginning of the year, and there’s nights that they win the games for us.”
The Bruins’ second line scored the team’s only 5-on-5 goal, and they had an expected goals for percentage of 81.63%. They generated two high-danger chances while allowing none.
Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves and finished with a 1.46 goals saved above expected. The win marks his 24th of the season; he needs one more to tie a career high.
He was named the game’s first star.
The Bruins remain in the second wild-card, and depending on the result of the Mammoth-Blue Jackets game on Saturday night, they will be one or three points ahead of the Blue Jackets. The Bruins can create more separation on Sunday when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins (31-17-13) in Western Pennsylvania.