Capitals Raise Banner Before Blowing Out Bruins

Evgeny Kuznetsov scored twice and Braden Holtby posted his first regular season shutout in 18 months as the Washington Capitals opened their Stanley Cup defence with a 7-0 thrashing of the Boston Bruins.

Los Angeles, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Oct, 2018 ) :Evgeny Kuznetsov scored twice and Braden Holtby posted his first regular season shutout in 18 months as the Washington Capitals opened their Stanley Cup defence with a 7-0 thrashing of the Boston Bruins.

A blowout win at home was the perfect start for the Capitals who raised their first NHL championship banner to the rafters in a festive ceremony before the opening faceoff.

Washington reached the pinnacle of the sport by beating the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in five games to claim the Stanley Cup in June.

The clash against the Bruins was one of four Wednesday games marking the opening night of the 2018-19 regular season.

Superstar Alex Ovechkin was the last player to come out of the tunnel. The Russian forward did it in style, carrying the Stanley Cup and going for one last lap around the Capital One arena. The players then gathered at centre ice to have their team photo taken as the banner was raised overhead.

Washington is going to have to try and repeat without head coach Barry Trotz, who moved on to the New York Islanders. He has been replaced by assistant Todd Reirden.

The biggest obstacle standing in the way of a Capitals repeat is Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Pittsburgh won consecutive Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 and Washington is hoping to match that feat.

Holtby finished with 25 saves for the 33rd shutout of his career. It was the Canadian's first shutout since April 2017 as he went through the entire regular season last year without one.

That was the first time Holtby failed to get a regular season shutout in a full season since 2006-07 when he played for the Western Hockey League's Saskatoon Blades.

Ovechkin finished with a goal and an assist and Niklas Backstrom delivered three assists in the win.

T.J. Oshie got the rout started with a goal just 24 seconds into the game.

Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask, of Finland, allowed five goals on 19 shots before being pulled in favour of Czech Jaroslav Halak as the Bruins suffered their biggest opening night loss in franchise history.

Bruins Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara were both minus-two on the night. Marchand had just one shot on goal and took 19 minutes in penalties because of an unprovoked attack on Washington's playoff hero Lars Eller.

Capitals forward Tom Wilson was dressed and on the ice for the banner raising ceremony but did not play.

Earlier in the day Wilson was slapped with a 20-game suspension for a hit to the head on St. Louis Blues player Oskar Sundqvist during a pre-season game on Sunday.

It was just the latest in a long line of sanctions for foul play levelled against Wilson, who was suspended three times last season.

In other games Wednesday, a couple of stars made their debut with their new teams, including defenceman Erik Karlsson with San Jose Sharks and forward John Tavares with he Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tavares had a goal and teammate Auston Matthews scored 61 seconds into overtime as the Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2.