Caps Collapse in 3rd, Fall to Bruins in OT

Matt Pettinger, left, and the Capitals surrender a two-goal lead in less than a minute Tuesday and fall to David Tanabe, right, and the Bruins. (Mitchell Layton - Getty Images)

In the first period, the Capitals were outshot 17-2, but the game remained scoreless thanks to a herculean performance by Kolzig and -- surprise, surprise -- a decent penalty kill, which killed off all six Bruins power plays. Washington's two shots were the second fewest in a period this season. (They recorded just one in the third period against Montreal -- a 5-1 victory -- on Nov. 19.)

Although the Capitals were outshot 32-13 after two periods, the scoreboard told a different story: Capitals 2, Bruins 1.

Mathieu Biron, the defenseman turned power-play specialist, scored on the man advantage for the third straight game. His second period goal gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead and helped his equal his career high for goals (four).

The Capitals' edge didn't last. Kolzig lost his shutout bid late in the second period, but he didn't even see the puck go in. Kolzig was sprawled on his backside after making two splendid stops when Murray's wrist shot from the slot found the back of Washington's net to make it 1-1.

Almost exactly one minute later, Chris Clark scored short-handed to restore the Capitals lead, 2-1.

"They beat us at out game and our game is outworking team and directing pucks to the net," Hanlon said. "That's the hard part to swallow."

Capitals Notes: Clark's short-handed goal gave the Capitals eight for the season, one short of the franchise record set in 1999-2000. Washington and Los Angeles are the only teams with three players with two shorthanded goals this season (the Capitals are Brian Sutherby, Matt Pettinger and Clark).