March 3, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, United States; Washington Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin (8) watches during a stoppage in the second period of a game against the Utah Mammoths at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images For the second straight game, the Boston Bruins face a team making big moves ahead of Friday’s NHL trade deadline.
Coach Marco Sturm’s club still occupies the final Eastern Conference wild card spot, but its lead was reduced to one point after Thursday’s 6-3 loss to the Nashville Predators. The Bruins will be looking to get back on track when the Washington Capitals visit Boston on Saturday afternoon.
Washington traded away two cornerstone players, forward Nick Dowd and defenseman John Carlson, following Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Utah Mammoths.
Carlson, the franchise’s all-time leader in games played and points among blueliners, was traded overnight early Friday morning to the Anaheim Ducks.
“It was probably the hardest day of my career,” captain Alex Ovechkin said of losing his teammate of 17 years. “It’s annoying. It’s sad.”
Despite back-to-back losses, a win on Saturday would move the Capitals to within two points of the Bruins. However, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators currently sit between them in the standings. Washington is tied for the fewest in the East with 19 games left in the regular season.
Would things have been different if there had been no results last week? Now the Caps will never know. But they continue to hunt, and the only choice is to move forward.
Washington coach Spencer Carberry singled out Ovechkin and Dylan Strome as key leaders, saying, “That’s going to be our challenge. … And we’re going to (respond).” “They want to win, they want to compete. … I know the character of our group. We’re going to leave it there. Just because of Nic Dowd and John Carlson, this group isn’t going to take it.”
The Capitals added San Jose Sharks defenseman Timothy Liljegren and Vancouver Canucks forward David Kampf to the group in exchange for draft picks.
A year after captain Brad Marchand was traded to the Florida Panthers, the Bruins will look to overcome Thursday’s tough result with an unchanged NHL roster.
Boston completed a 2-for-2 prospect swap with the Philadelphia Flyers, acquiring 23-year-old forward Lucas Reichel from Vancouver in exchange for a draft pick.
Reichel will report to AHL affiliate Providence, but is a former first-round pick who has played 19 NHL games this season with Vancouver and the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I hope the players take a deep breath, put their ears back and realize, ‘We’ve done well enough to be in a playoff position, let’s hang in there,’” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said.
Nashville scored four goals in the second period and never looked back in Thursday’s game.
“I wasn’t happy with our mentality going into (Thursday’s game),” Sturm said. “It’s always difficult when the opponent misses or scratches. I’ve seen it many times before. I didn’t take it lightly, but the guys who came in worked really hard. They did more than us. That was the difference.”
“It just wasn’t good enough,” added defender Charlie McAvoy.
The Bruins and Capitals haven’t met since the season opener on Oct. 8, which Boston won 3-1. They’ll close out the series with another very important game in a playoff game next Saturday in Washington.
–Field level media
