Mathieu Perreault shines for Ovechkin-less Washington Capitals over Boston Bruins 5-3 -NHL Update
Going up against the defending Stanley Cup champions without their All-Star captain, Alex Ovechkin, Washington found another superstar in the form of Mathieu Perreault, who earned his first ever career hat-trick, leading the Capitals to a brilliant, 5-3,
win against Boston Bruins on Tuesday night, January 24, 2012, at the sold-out Verizon Center in Washington, District of Columbia.
"It was outstanding", Washington forward, Matt Hendricks, said. "Kid's been working extremely hard all season. He's been in and out of the lineup. He comes to the rink with that smile on his face and he's got a great personality, great guy to be around.
I feel great for him. I'm so happy. Everybody else in this room I'm sure feels the same way".
Boston was the first team on the scoreboard as Rich Peverley kicked off the scoring with his eighth goal of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season with less than three minutes remaining in the opening, scoreless period.
Bruins’ veteran goalie, Tim Thomas, was sitting on the benches while Tuukka Rask was performing his duties in the net on Tuesday and fell short on four shots, blocking a total of 18.
Washington’s goalie, Tomas Vokoun, despite being outshot with 32 attempts, still managed to divert 29 shots.
The Capitals came out strong in the second 20 minute phase as Cody Eakin equalised the match at 2:14 and Mathieu Perreault contributed with the tie-breaker nearly 30 seconds later.
Boston rookie, Tyler Seguin, surprised everyone in the stadium with his 19th goal while intercepting a pass and breaking away to level the contest once again.
Mathieu Perreault came up with his second straight for Washington at the 14:23 mark, while Brad Marchand sealed off the period with his 17th of the season during a power play opportunity with Perreault on the bench for hooking with a minor penalty.
Washington’s third period rally proved to be too much for the Bruins as Mathieu Perreault capped off his hat-trick and Dennis Wideman added another with less than 30 seconds remaining.
"You're not going to replace Alex, but as a committee we're going to have to get the goals", Washington coach, Dale Hunter, said before the game. "We need people to step up".
Tags: