BOSTON, MA - APRIL 21: Head coach Claude Julien of the Boston Bruins looks for a penalty call during the first period against the Washington Capitals in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on April 21, 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Capitals defeated the Bruins 4-3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Quick game summary
In the first period, no scoring happened.
In the second period, Alexander Semin scored to make it 1-0 Capitals. A little later, Jay Beagle scored to make it 2-0 Capitals. Shawn Thornton laid a big hit on Matt Hendricks which brought the crowd back and the Bruins woke up. Dennis Seidenberg scored his 1st goal of the playoffs not too long after Thornton's hit to make it 2-1. Only 28 seconds later, Brad Marchand scored his 1st goal of the playoffs to tie the game 2-2.
In the third period, ex-Bruin Mike Knuble scored to make it 3-2 Capitals. Later, Johnny Boychuk scored his 1st goal of the playoffs, a power-play goal, a "Johnny-Rocket!" to tie the game back up at 3-3. Late in the period, as stated above, Troy Brouwer scored a power-play goal as he received a pass on the right side and beat Andrew Ference for some space and wristed a shot by Tim Thomas, who should have had it. After the game, media said that Tim Thomas took the blame and said that Brouwer beat him cleanly.
Tim Thomas made 28 saves on 32 shots. Thomas is now 2-3 with a 2.05 GAA and a .922 save percentage this year in the playoffs.
Game notes
The Bruins led the game in shots 37-32, faceoff wins 37-30 and hits 35-27. The Capitals led the game in blocked shots 19-11.
The Bruins went 1-for-3 on the power-play while the Capitals went 1-for-2.
Andrew Ference led the Bruins with 7 shots.
Johnny Boychuk led the Bruins with 3 blocked shots.
Zdeno Chara led the Bruins with 6 hits.
Milan Lucic and David Krejci finally got their first points in the playoffs, but Tyler Seguin is still without a point.
Injuries
Both Joe Corvo and Patrice Bergeron were injured during the game and both are uncertain to play tomorrow. Corvo blocked a shot in the second period, was out of position, and to add insult-to-injury, the Capitals scored while he hobbled around. Bergeron was hit early in the third period by Alex Ovechkin with an open ice hit and went down the tunnel afterwards. He then only played one more shift on right wing, obviously feeling it out but it turned into a short shift as he skated off the ice and stayed on the bench for the rest of the period. Earlier in the game Bergeron was hit with an elbow to his head by Alexander Semin. So hopefully it's nothing serious, like another concussion, and he's able to play tomorrow.
With Adam McQuaid still not skating, don't look for him to play in these playoffs. If Joe Corvo can't play tomorrow, we may see Mike Mottau in the lineup for him.
Onto the next one
The Capitals now lead the series 3-2. Game 6 is tomorrow at 3pm ET at the Washington Capitals.
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