Survival: B's win in OT, force Game 7

Tyler Seguin deked and scored on Braden Holtby just 3:17 into the first overtime as the Bruins beat the Capitals, 4-3, Sunday in Game 6 at the Verizon Center in Washington. David Krejci stole the puck near center ice and gave it to Milan Lucic on the left wing, and he fed Seguin down the slot. Holtby came out to try to play the puck and Seguin -- considered the most skilled puck-handler on the Bruins -- held on and waited for Holtby to go down before firing the puck into the open net. Game 7 is Wednesday night at TD Garden. 

It was the sixth straight one-goal game in the series, a Stanley Cup playoff record for a best-of-seven series. 

Andrew Ference -- known for his vocal environmental advocacy -- came down the slot and fired a Seguin rebound into an open net for what could have been the game-winning goal on Earth Day, as the Bruins led 3-2 with 8:03 left. But with 4:52 left, Nicklas Backstrom won a draw against Rich Peverley and drew it back to Alex Ovechkin in the slot. Ovechkin didn't get all of it but enough for it to knuckle through Thomas' 5-hole to force overtime.

The Bruins jumped out on top when Rich Peverley tipped a Ference shot from the high slot at 5:56 of the first. The Capitals came back just under four minutes later when Mike Green fired a shot from the left point. Bruins defenseman Greg Zanon was late trying to clear Mike Knuble from the front of the net and the puck went off his right skate and past Thomas for the tying goal.

With just over three minutes left in the opening period, the Bruins regained the momentum on their languishing power play when Krejci dumped the puck to the left cornerboards. Milan Lucic chased it down and fired it back to Krejci, who tipped it past Holtby for his first playoff goal after leading the Bruins with 12 last spring in their run to the Stanley Cup.  

Thomas was the star of the second period with spectacular saves on Marcus Johansson and Jay Beagle. His save midway through the second period was a throwback to Game 7 of the Eastern finals last year when Thomas just got his stick blade on a shot by Tampa Bay's Steve Downie. This time, Thomas on the other side, denied Johansson with the blade of his stick. Less than a minute later, Thomas denied Beagle from in close with a right pad. 

Late in the second period, the Bruins appeared to be victimized by a missed call from the officials. Patrice Bergeron was called for high-sticking and the Capitals pulled their goalie for an extra skater. But in the change, TV replays showed the Capitals had seven skaters on the ice and were playing the puck in the offensive zone. Too many men was not called and the Bruins eventually killed off the penalty. 

Then, late in the second, Brad Marchand was spun around in the Capitals zone and fell to the ice after being grazed by Jason Chimera. With the Bruins expecting a call in the neutral zone, Chimera and the Caps headed the other way. Nicklas Backstrom and Chimera got behind Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg, with Backstrom feeding Chimera for the goal that beat Thomas with just over 41 seconds left in the period, tying the game at 2-2 heading into the third.  

For complete coverage from DJ Bean on site in Washington, visit the Bruins team page at weei.com/bruins and the Big Bad Blog.