Bruins shut out for first time all season by Capitals

The Boston Bruins lost for the second time in three games on Saturday, as the Washington Capitals went into TD Garden and earned a decisive 3-0 win. The game marks the first time the Bruins got shut out this season.

The B's were fortunate to escape the first period with a scoreless game. The Capitals out-shot the Bruins 15-4 in the first period alone, but goaltender Jeremy Swayman kept them alive.

It was just over a minute into the second period when the Capitals finally got their first goal. Max Pacioretty found an open T.J. Oshie near the slot, and Oshie finished for a power play goal and a 1-0 lead.

The Caps once again out-shot the Bruins in the second period, this time 8-4, but didn't get their insurance goal until the third period. Capitals forward Dylan Strome finished a great saucer pass from Alex Ovechkin on an odd-man rush to give the Capitals a 2-0 advantage.

The Bruins fell to 32-11-9 with the loss, but still hold the lead atop the Atlantic Division.

Up Next: The Bruins will get back at it on Tuesday, when their homestand continues against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Check out all of Matt's content.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery didn't want to call Thursday's win over the Canucks his team's best win of the season. Sure, he understood the magnitude of the showdown, which featured the best team in the East going up against the best team in the West, but this game didn't feel like a true heavyweight tilt to him.

Well, if you ask me, there was a reason for that. And it's because the Bruins choked the life out of the Canucks early in this game, and with a performance that may not be worthy of being dubbed the best win of the season, but a game that's absolutely at the top of the list for 'bounce-back wins' this season.

Up against a Canucks team bolstered by the addition of Elias Lindholm and coming off a Tuesday win over the Hurricanes, it looked like it was going to be another tough start for the Bruins when a partial breakaway opportunity for the Canucks led to a Boston penalty not even 20 seconds into the game.

But it was the return of the Shorthanded King, Brad Marchand, that allowed the Bruins to avoid disaster and instead begin the night with a lead, with a shortie scored at the 32-second mark of the first period.

The Bruins built off that with yet another shorthanded goal, this one from Danton Heinen 15 minutes after Marchand's strike, and with another two goals in a 15-second span in the middle frame, the Bruins made shockingly quick work of the best team the West has to offer through the first half of the season.

Here are the 98.5 The Sports Hub (dot com) 3 Stars from a win over the Canucks...

It wasn't the heaviest workload for Bruins netminder Linus Ullmark. In what was a clinical effort by the team in front of him, Ullmark was tagged with just 17 shots by the night's end. But he did stop all 17 of 'em en route to his first shutout of the season, and did come through with some big-time stops to choke the life out of the Canucks.

It also appears that the 6-foot-5 Ullmark is beginning to rediscover his rhythm after his lower-body injury, too, with the 17-save shutout and a 35-of-37 performance in his last two outings.

One of the things that Montgomery wanted — or needed, really — to see from his club in this game was how they responded physically after they failed to meet that challenge from the Flames on Tuesday night. And it was Morgan Geekie who led the way on that front, with a game-high six hits in just 15:04 of work.

Oh, and Geekie scored Boston's third goal of the game, which felt the true knockout punch in this contest, as it came just moments into the second period and with Vancouver already down by two.

The goal was Geekie's ninth of the season, tying his career-high set last year with the Kraken, and Geekie is now just four points away from matching his career-high of 28, also set last year with Seattle.

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He may not have found the back of the net in a four-goal outing for the Black and Gold, but the hot run continued for Bruins center Charlie Coyle all the same.

In what was his 10th straight game with at least one point, Coyle did his work on the penalty kill, and came through with the primary helper on both of the B's shorthanded markers.

And in doing so, Coyle actually became the first Bruins player to have multiple shorthanded points in a game since Rich Peverley accomplished the feat on Apr. 10, 2013.

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We're back with another new episode of the Sports Hub Underground. The Bruins are officially back from their bye week and so are we, with plenty to talk about.

Here's the full rundown...

(0:50) Opening banter

(19:05) Bruins play their worst game of the season against the Flames

(26:45) Jeremy Swayman is worthy of your criticism

(33:50) Noah Hanifin remains a possible big free-agent target for the Bruins

(44:00) Jake DeBrusk sounds closer and closer to signing an extension

(57:38) The guys pick their "Big 3" sports achievements they'd like to see in person

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