Chychrun scores his 11th goal of the season as the Capitals beat the Bruins 3-1

By STEPHEN WHYNO The Associated Press

Washington Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun (6) celebrates his goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Nick Wass]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jakob Chychrun scored his 11th goal of the season to tie for the most among NHL defensemen, and the Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 3-1 on Tuesday.

Chychrun matched Colorado’s Cale Makar and Columbus’ Zach Werenski. The pending unrestricted free agent is off to a productive start in his contract year, with 25 points in 32 games.

Aliaksei Protas scored twice, including an empty-net goal to seal it with .89 seconds left, and Logan Thompson made 26 saves for the Capitals, who bounced back from a 4-2 defeat Sunday at Detroit. They had more shots in the first 22 minutes than in their entire game at Boston on Dec. 23, when they had a season-low 11 and lost 4-1.

Justin Brazeau scored for the Bruins 81 seconds in off an unexpected carom off the boards and then Thompson. Jeremy Swayman finished with 24 saves.

Washington defenseman Martin Fehervary left in the third period after taking an inadvertent stick to the face from teammate Tom Wilson.

Takeaways

Bruins: Didn’t have their best effort in the first of three consecutive games on the road and could not take advantage of a fortuitous bounce early.

Capitals: Won despite Alex Ovechkin’s goal-scoring streak ending at four. Ovechkin had one in each of his first two games back from a broken left leg and also scored twice on Nov. 18 before getting injured and had a hat trick on Nov. 17.

Key moment

With the Bruins pressing with just over seven minutes left, Thompson made a series of saves on high-quality scoring chances to keep the Capitals ahead. He did the same with a big stop with 16.1 seconds left and Boston skating 6 on 5.

Key stat

Ovechkin remains 25 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record.

Up next

The Bruins visit the last-place New York Rangers on Thursday night, while the Capitals host Minnesota.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl