BOSTON (AP) ― For two years, Tim Thomas has been one of the best goalies in the world.
For two games, Braden Holtby has matched him save for save.
Making just his second NHL postseason appearance, Holtby stopped 43 shots Saturday to lead the Washington Capitals to a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins. One game after the Bruins opened the playoffs with a single-overtime victory, Nicklas Backstrom scored 2:56 into the second overtime to help the Capitals tie the defending Stanley Cup champions at one game apiece.
“There’s not a lot of chances out there,” Backstrom said. “This is how it’s going to be, I think. For you, maybe it’s boring; I don’t know. But for us, it’s fun.”
Thomas made 37 saves for the Bruins, who earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference but now must win in Washington to advance to the second round. The Capitals will host Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Thursday before the series returns to Boston on April 21.
“I would say it’s going to be a long series,” Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin said. “For us, it was very important to win this game and get the series tied, and go back home and have home advantage to play against the Bruins. ... We are pretty happy, but it was a long game and everybody is tired and needs some rest.”
Senators rally to win
NEW YORK (AP) ― Chris Neil scored 1:17 into overtime, and the Ottawa Senators rallied for a wild 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 2 to even the first-round Eastern Conference series Saturday night.
Neil got to a loose puck in front off a rebound and backhanded the puck past goalie Henrik Lundqvist.
The top-seeded Rangers seemed poised to grab a 2-0 series lead when Brian Boyle scored in the third period, but Nick Foligno tied it with 4:37 left in regulation.
Erik Karlsson also scored for the Senators, who exacted some revenge on Boyle for some shots he took at Karlsson during Game 1. A brawl led to the ejections of Ottawa defenseman Matt Carkner and New York forward Brandon Dubinsky just 2:15 in.
Anton Stralman had the other goal for the Rangers.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Monday night in Ottawa, followed by Game 4 on Wednesday night. The series will return to New York for Game 5 next Saturday.
St. Louis 3, San Jose 0
Chicago 4, Phoenix 3
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
