What To Know: Capitals Fall To Bruins In Season Opener

Oct 09, 2025

WASHINGTON — Opening night was, by no means, as the Washington Capitals wrote it up.

Washington had its share of looks and opportunity, but a sloppy start and lack of finish and energy led to a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 1.

Here’s some quick notes from the defeat.

It was an ugly night for the man advantage, as the Capitals went 0-for-5 on the power play. Both units looked disjointed, failing to generate high-quality chances or get anyone to the front of the net. Meanwhile, it marked the beginning of the end of Alex Ovechkin playing the full-two minutes, as he deferred to getting off the ice with the first unit.
That lack of offense carried over to 5-on-5, as D.C. failed to find chemistry and made one too many passes at times. Ultimately, coach Spencer Carbery changed the lines as the game went on. Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas switched places on the top-6 while Justin Sourdif and Ryan Leonard swapped roles on the bottom-6.
It was an odd first night at Capital One, too, as the puck was bouncing quite a bit while passes never really came together.
Tom Wilson sparked his team in the third, sniping home a feed from Jakob Chychrun in the slot, but minutes later, the Bruins went back up after a power-play goal from Elias Lindholm. Aliaksei Protas added a secondary assist.
At the end of the day… it’s the first game. There’s rust to be shake off and ways to go, and no reason to panic this early. Game 1 of 82. We have a long way to go.