"Ovechkin is breaking sh*t in the locker room": NHL fans react as Capitals secure 3-1 win against Boston Bruins

The Washington Capitals continued their impressive season by closing out 2024 with a 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, DC, on Tuesday afternoon.

The win improved the Capitals to 25-10-2, good for first place in the Metropolitan Division. Meanwhile, the Bruins fell to 20-15-4.

The opening 20 minutes of play started well for the visiting Bruins, who took the early 1-0 lead thanks to Justin Brazeau's ninth goal of the season. However, the Capitals responded with a pair of tallies to close out the first-period thanks to Aliaksei Protas and Jakob Chychrun; the goals were their 15th and 11th tallies of the season, respectively.

With the Bruins pressing for the tying marker late in the third period, Protas sealed the victory with his second goal, scoring into the vacated net with goaltender Jeremy Swayman on the bench for a sixth attacker.

After the final horn, Capitals fans celebrated the win on X (formerly Twitter), with one fan noting it was the first game since Alex Ovechkin returned from a broken leg that he didn't score.

"Hearing Ovechkin is breaking s*** in the locker room because he didn’t get a pass to score the empty net," wrote @yoke_and_puck.

"Huge win against a really good team. LFG boys," wrote @stormserg123

"Great Win caps, awesome way to end year and here we come 2025 💪💪💪," exclaimed @frankie0819.

Most fans were in a happy mood, commemorating the victory.

"THIS TEAM IS SO GOOD!!!" added @king_ape6.

"Lets go Caps!!!!! Again, resign Chychrun. Happy new year Caps nation!!!," exclaimed @WIvanals/status.

Not everyone was in a festive mood, however.

"Fraudulent win, you didn't even play well," wrote @thunnapl.

The Capitals will play their first game of 2025 on Thursday when they host the Minnesota Wild.

Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is just 25 goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky

Ovechkin scored twice in the three games after returning from an injury.

He scored in Washington's win over the Toronto Maple Leafs and loss to the Detroit Red Wings, putting him just 25 goals away from overtaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time mark of 894 career goals.

Meanwhile, the Capitals kept a steady pace without Ovechkin in the lineup, going 10-5-1 and maintaining their top spot in the division and conference.