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Johnson Remains Locked In
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"As good as the guys [from] Hershey played," Boudreau said, Poti "is such a difference maker."
The performance of the Ovechkin-Backstrom-Semin line was spectacular. But it was overshadowed by Johnson's play in net.
In one of the most entertaining first periods of the season, the Capitals were out-shot 14-6 but still took a 1-0 lead into the intermission thanks to stellar goaltending.
After Backstrom scored his fourth goal in five games on the power play 3:53 into the contest, Johnson made a kick save on Patrice Bergeron, then turned back Chuck Kobasew on the rebound a split-second later. Johnson, who has been battling a sore hip, stayed down a few moments but stayed in the game. Boudreau said later he might give Johnson the day off today to rest.
"That happens a lot around the Washington Capitals these days," Boudreau said when asked if he thought Johnson had seriously injured himself.
He hadn't. Because moments later, Johnson turned away P.J. Axelsson on a short-handed breakaway to send the game into the second with the Capitals clinging to their one-goal lead.
Giroux's third career goal -- and first since the 2006-07 season -- came at 4:52 of the second period and put the Capitals ahead 2-0. Johnson then brought the 17,697 out of their seats with his save of the season. Blake Wheeler raced into the Washington zone on a breakaway, luring Johnson out of his crease. Wheeler made a quick move to the right, but before he could score, Johnson dived backward, jutted his stick out and slammed it down on the ice just as Wheeler attempted to slip the puck in.
"I think a veteran would have went up top with that," Boudreau said of Wheeler's shot. "A coach once told me, when I did that, 'That's an American league move; you'll be going down tomorrow.' "
Boston's bruising winger Milan Lucic scored with 35 seconds remaining in the second period, but Johnson kept the Bruins in check the rest of the way and Ovechkin clinched the win in the final minute with an empty-net goal.
Capitals Notes: Tomas Fleischmann (leg) was joined on the sideline by defensemen Mike Green (bruised shoulder) and John Erskine as well as center Sergei Fedorov (sprained ankle) and right wing Eric Fehr (shoulder). Fleischmann was replaced in the lineup by 6-foot-4, 225-pound winger Oskar Osala, who skated 11:15 in his NHL debut.
