“It felt like a blowout in our end,’’ said Wheeler, whose line combined for 15 of the 42 shots the Bruins put on Theodore. “It felt like last year.’’
But in this perfect storm of failure that has engulfed the Black and Gold, all the magic in the Bruins’ sticks has turned to dust. Theodore, the latest hot goalie to stare down the Bruins, stayed compact on Wheeler’s shot and gobbled up the puck with his chest. On both Ryder opportunities, Theodore booted out the attempts. Then when Krejci could have given his team a one-goal lead, Theodore took up enough of the net to force the center to shoot wide right.
At the other end, after Matt Hunwick threw an ill-timed third-period reverse pass into empty space behind the Boston net, Alexander Semin pulled the puck off the wall and fed Brooks Laich in front for the winning goal.
“I’ve replayed that about 100 times in my head,’’ said Hunwick. “If I could redo it, I’d shoot it off the glass and let the forwards chase it.’’
It was one of three third-period strikes by the Capitals in a a 4-1 victory before 17,565 at TD Garden that left the Bruins in 12th place in the East and searching for a goal-scoring fix that might not be within this current group.
“We played a really good game, but that’s not good enough,’’ Wheeler said. “Two points are all you can be judged on.’’
The Bruins are 0-6-2 in their last eight. The last time they were winless in eight straight was from Dec. 22, 1955, to Jan. 12, 1956. They have scored 12 goals during the tumble, a miserable 1.5 goals per game.
“From my perspective, I’m seeing a team that’s working hard and getting some great scoring chances,’’ said coach Claude Julien. “After two periods, there’s no doubt which team was the better team tonight. But the minute they scored a goal in the third, with what’s been happening, we kind of tightened up and it got worse.’’
