March 7, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Washington Capitals center Justin Sourdiff (34) attempts a shot against Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) in the second quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Image Viktor Arvidsson scored the winning goal at 4:28 of the third period to lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals on Saturday afternoon.
Pavel Zacha and Elias Lindholm also scored, David Pastrnak had two assists and Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves for Boston. Boston is 5-3 since the Olympic break and has a 12-game home winning streak.
The teams traded goals in the second period before Arvidsson lit the lamp. After Hampus Lindholm started the play with a steal at the defensive blue line, Mittelstadt scored the decisive goal on a breakaway by Arvidsson.
Boston had little breathing room for the rest of the third period, but Elias Lindholm sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 23.2 seconds left.
Aliaksei Protas scored the lone goal and Logan Thompson stopped 27 shots for Washington, which has lost its third straight game since recently trading veterans Nicolas Roy and John Carlson.
Boston held a 30-23 edge in shots. Boston went 1-for-6 on the power play, totaling nine on the man advantage for the lone goal of either team.
The two teams played a scoreless first period despite three combined power plays. Swayman made the biggest save at 10:54 to give Boston its first kill, setting aside Tom Wilson’s shot off a Connor McMichael transition feed.
Shortly after Thompson made a stop on an oncoming Pastrnak, Zacha took Charlie McAvoy’s seam pass to the front of the net and hit the rebound for a power play goal with 4:02 remaining to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
The visitors didn’t play from behind for long as Protas scored on a rebound to tie the score at 7:21. Jakob Chykhrun danced around a defender on the wing and fired a close-range shot that created a second chance in front.
Thompson made a key save to keep the game level a minute later, swatting away Casey Mittelstadt’s shot before Fraser Minten gathered the puck and fired into the open side of the net as Traylor rushed.
–Field level media
