Post-Game Thoughts: Bruins 4, Capitals 3

· A great win and a gutsy performance

o Down to 10 forwards for a large part of this game after injuries to Anton Blidh and Brad Marchand, the Bruins battled hard all night. They were the better team in this game despite the shorter bench and deserved this win. As Charlie McAvoy said post game, everyone needed to pull the rope.

· Charlie McAvoy leads the way

o They don’t call him Chuckie Bright Lights for nothing. McAvoy has time and time again shown the propensity to show up in the biggest moments. Tonight, he took a beautiful pass from Jake DeBrusk and wired one top shelf with 45 seconds left to put the Bruins ahead for good. McAvoy also laid out Trevor van Riemsdyk with a huge hit in the first period not long after Anton Blidh was sent into another dimension by Tom Wilson. He finished with a goal and 4 blocked shots in a team high 24:35 TOI. He was a monster tonight.

· Marchand hurt, where is the response?

o A common criticism among those who follow the Bruins regularly is that they don’t properly respond when their teammates are the victim of dirty hits. The issue reared its ugly head again tonight when Brad Marchand was the victim of a bad hit from Garnet Hathaway. The hit appeared to injure his shoulder, and he was done for the night after trying a few more shifts. Guys like Nick Foligno and Derek Forbort should step up and challenge a guy like Hathaway after he injured the Bruins best player. Hopefully Marchand is okay.

· A great game from Jake DeBrusk

o There was a time Jake DeBrusk and #cellyszn were popular amongst Bruins fans. While it has been a long time since we saw that player on a regular basis, he certainly showed up tonight. DeBrusk was engaged everywhere and had some great jump. He finished with a goal and a beautiful assist on McAvoy’s game winner in 15:05 TOI. The only reason I don’t like DeBrusk is because I think he is capable of this type of game on a regular basis. It’s a shame it just has come and gone for him

· Linus Ullmark….not great

o Shaky game for Linus Ullmark, who let up a couple goals he probably should have had. The Lars Eller goal in the second period was particularly soft. The Bruins will need Linus to get back to form while Tuukka gets back up to speed.