Second period Quick hits:

-The B’s had another chance to tie the game as Conner received his second penalty of the night on a high-stick. Holtby stood tall yet again denying the Black and Gold from another golden opportunity. Boston showed much more energy and interest early on in the second period compared to their less than stellar effort in the opening 20 minutes.

-Injury news: Alexander Ovechkin exited the game after taking a Torey Krug slap shot to the mid-section, but returned shortly after. Another break for the Black and Gold as of late dodging Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin during yesterday’s 2-0 win.

-The Capitals increased their lead to 2-0 on Nate Schmidt’s first goal of the season. The puck was deflected off Gregory Campbell’s stick making it almost impossible for Rask to stop. Niklas Backstrom notched his second assist of the game and 53rd of the season in the process. Tom Wilson also recorded his 12th assist on the year.

-The B’s could have been down by three goals as time expired, but Rask made a ridiculous sequence of saves to keep the deficit at two after 40 minutes of play.

-For Boston, Chara leads all skaters with 14:30 of total ice time while Eriksson leads all forwards on the Black and Gold with 14 minutes of ice time. For Washington, Niskanen leads all skaters with 15:32 of total ice time while Backstrom leads all forwards with 13:17 of ice time.

Stats after the second period:

-Bruins have a 26-25 edge in hits after 40 minutes

-Washington has 14 blocked shots to Boston’s 8

-Holtby has stopped all 23 shots from the Black and Gold

The Boston Bruins will face off against the Washington Capitals on the second leg of a back-to-back before heading home Sunday night. Boston is looking for some separation for complete control of the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern conference. Braden Holtby will be between the pipes for the Capitals. Holtby owns a 2.09 goals against average to go along with a 5-2 regular season record in his career. Tuukka Rask will look to continue his sizzling March between the pipes for Boston.

First period Quick hits:

-It was a slow first few minutes to the game for the Black and Gold where their goaltender yet again bailed them out. The Capitals outshot the Bruins 10-1 over the game’s first six minutes of play. It could be the result of playing in back-to-backs, but that can’t be in excuse in one of the biggest games for Claude Julien and company.

-How important is the first goal for the Caps? Judging from the stats, its clearly something they thrive on. They lead the league with an .833 win percentage when scoring first — a record of 30-2-4. The B’s are 11-15-6 when allowing the first goal.

-Brad Marchand received the game’s first penalty sticking up for his teammate Ryan Spooner who was buried in his own zone. It came back to bite Boston as the second ranked Caps power play took advantage. John Carlson ripped a shot past Rask for his 11th goal of the season to give the Caps a 1-0 lead. With the goal by Carlson, it ends the B’s streak of scoring the first goal in 11 straight games.

-The Black and Gold had their chance to tie the game on the man advantage as Chris Conner went off for tripping late in the first period. But, the opportunity went by the boards for Boston. B’s are now scoreless in their last 11 power-play attempts.

Stats from after 20 minutes

-Bruins hold the edge in face-offs 10-7

-Capitals lead the B’s 16-9 in the shots department

-Bruins have zero giveaways to the Capitals one