B's Down Caps in Shootout, 3-2

Ahead of Sunday's exhibition opener between the Capital and the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena, both teams agreed to a postgame shootout regardless of the final score, a preseason feature when agreed upon before the game by both sides. But as it turned out, the shootout was necessary to snap a 2-2 tie after 65 minutes of hockey.

Jake DeBrusk won it for the Bruins in the skills competition, 3-2. The hockey that came before it was about what you'd expect from a first exhibition effort on both sides: sloppy at times with evidence of rust and a lack of timing on both sides, but it was spirited throughout, and both sides warmed to the task as the game wore on.
"It was the first game," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "I thought there were some good things we did. There were some things that we definitely can do better. I thought we were a little loose in front of our net; it seemed like on some of the goals we had lots of people around the area but didn't defend the area very well. I thought as the game got toward the middle part we started to generate some good chances offensively, so some good things to see, some good signs."
Things started inauspiciously for the Caps; an early Martin Fehervary turnover led to a strong Boston scoring chance in the game's first half-minute, but Washington starter Pheonix Copley stopped Anton Blidh's bid for an early strike. About a minute later, Boston mounted another flurry of shots and went on the power play when Brian Pinho was sent off for hooking.
Washington settled in at this point, killing off the penalty without yielding a shot on net. Soon afterwards, the Caps grabbed an early 1-0 lead seconds after an offensive zone draw. Although Boston's Curtis Hall was credited with a face-off win against Caps rookie Hendrix Lapierre, a persistent Lapierre quickly regained control of the puck, pushing it to the right point for fellow freshman Martin Has. Has put a shot on net - the Caps' first of the contest - and local product Joe Snively showed a nose for the net, getting to the slot and burying the rebound to put his team up 1-0 at 4:15 of the first.

"It was pretty special to do it in front of family and friends," says Snively, who grew up and played youth hockey in the area before forging an excellent collegiate career at Yale. "Getting it in the first period too was nice."
The Caps kept Boston from registering a shot on net for more than 11 minutes in the first, but the Bruins managed the equalizer when DeBrusk chipped home the rebound of a Connor Clifton drive from the right point, tying the game at 1-1 at 12:56.
Washington was unable to convert on any of its three extra-man chances in the first, but it did manage some good zone time and some strong chances with the extra man. Six of the Capitals' 11 shots in the first frame came on the power play.
Boston pivot Erik Haula staked his team to its first lead early in the second. An offseason addition in free agency, Haula won 17 of 24 draws on the night, and one of those dot wins led to the go-ahead goal. The Finnish center pulled the puck back to the left point on a left dot draw, then went to the net and deflected John Moore's right point drive past Copley, who played the first two periods of the game before yielding to Vitek Vanecek at the start of the third.
The Caps played well in the middle period, getting the better of the possession and the territory, but they weren't able to light the lamp. They entered the final frame down a goal, and ended up in some thick penalty soup early in the third.
Just 35 seconds into the third, Washington defenseman Dylan McIlrath was given a match penalty for an illegal check to the head of Boston forward Steven Fogarty, who left the game and did not return. Facing a five-minute, all-you-can-eat power play, the Caps' penalty killing outfit yielded nothing while managing to draw two penalties against the Bruins in the process, leading to some 4-on-4 time. On the second of those Boston infractions, the Caps evened the score with a pretty 4-on-4 goal off the rush.
Lapierre gained the zone on the left side and dropped it to Fehervary, who quickly fed Garrett Pilon in the high slot. Pilon went to his backhand and beat Troy Grosenick with a beauty of a backhander, high to the stick side. Pilon's goal tied the game at 2-2 at 5:26 of the third.
"It was a great rush," recounts Pilon. "Lappy was skating pretty good there. He made a nice drop play, and Marty found me. I had some space there, and honestly I just tried to make a quick move and get that puck on net."

Washington was quiet offensively the rest of the way, and it needed some saves from Vanecek - including a stellar stop on DeBrusk from in tight in the waning minutes - to get the game into overtime.
In the shootout, Haula and DeBrusk both scored for the Bruins while only Daniel Sprong did so for the Caps.
"I liked the way that we fought back in the third period and got it to overtime," adds Laviolette. "We had a lot of good looks in the overtime and just couldn't get it done."