WASHINGTON (AP) – Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals of the Stanley Cup have opened defending their title with a 7-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.

After seeing the first banner of the franchise's Stanley Cup climb to the top, TJ Oshie opened the scoring at just 24 seconds and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the first of his two goals, a minute and a half later, to allow the rout to start quickly. These are the first two fastest goals of a defending champion in a first season of NHL history – and it was only the beginning.

Midway through the second period, the Capitals chased goalkeeper Tuukka Rask with five goals on 19 shots and launched slogans of "Back to back! Back to back!" of the inflamed crowd. Braden Holtby stopped 25 shots against him to improve to 15-2 with four shutouts against the Bruins.

The emotion-packed ceremony featured playoff montages and ensuing celebrations, as well as a roar when Ovechkin carried the freshly etched cup onto the ice and made it one of the highlights. tower. A few minutes after Ovechkin kissed the Cup and put it back in his box, he and his teammates dispelled any concerns about emotional disappointment and began declaring that they wanted it back.

In Todd Reirden's first match as a coach, the Capitals beat the Bruins for the 13th time in a row, this time without Tom Wilson. Washington right winger started his Suspension of 20 games for another illegal check at the head of an opponent during a preseason game.

The Capitals beat the Bruins 48-19 in this winning streak.

Ovechkin scored one of four power play goals, Kuznetsov scored his second power play goal and John Carlson beat Boston's backup Jaroslav Halak on a 5-over-3 advantage. The newcomer Nic Dowd, joined the entertainment with a spinning rear-spinner, and the scorer who won the Cup, Lars Eller, added the exclamation point with the seventh of the night.

Rask fell to 1-11-5 in his career against the Capitals with an average of 3.30 and a .889 save percentage, second of all opponents. Halak scored only two goals whose attendance at the final night in Washington was poetic after his performance for the 2010 Montreal playoffs put an end to one of Capitales' best previous chances of winning. a championship.

NOTES: The Capitals set a team record for goals in a first game. Washington C Nicklas Backstrom became the third player in franchise history to reach 800 points. … Torey Krug having been away for three weeks due to an ankle injury, Matt Grzelcyk has taken his place within Boston's first power play unit. The Bruins had only two chances on the power play.

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