David Krejci scored, Tuukka Rask made 24 saves and the Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals 1-0 Sunday to snap a 14-game losing streak against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Boston beat Washington for the first time since March 29, 2014, and its 14 consecutive victories against Arizona are now the longest active winning streak against one opponent in the NHL. The Bruins snapped their three-game skid and handed the Capitals their eighth loss in nine games.
Outscored 45-21 during their 14-game run of futility, the Bruins dominated the Capitals in almost all facets of the game and would have blown them out if not for the play of goaltender Braden Holtby, who made 37 saves. Holtby was helpless to stop Krejci's shot on a one-timer after a tic-tac-toe puck movement and a cross-ice pass from Torey Krug midway through the second.
Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (40), of Finland, celebrates with right wing David Pastrnak (88), defenseman Kevan Miller (86), defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73), left wing Brad Marchand (63) and others after an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, in Washington. (AP PhotoNick Wass)
Rask beat the Capitals for just the second time in 19 appearances against them, earning "TUUK!" chants from Bruins fans in attendance. His biggest stop came in the third period when he flashed the glove to snare a shot from Travis Boyd in the slot.
Rask picked up his 253rd career victory to take over first place on the Bruins' all-time list.
Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo didn't believe there was necessarily a theme or specific problem that led to such a lopsided stretch against Washington and thought his team was getting closer to breaking through. The Bruins scored first in only three of the previous 14 meetings, and getting the first goal Sunday allowed them to finally beat the Capitals.
Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) battles for the puck against Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson (43) as Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby (70) watches during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, in Washington. (AP PhotoNick Wass)
In many ways, the Capitals also beat themselves with a lot of the same mental mistakes that contributed to a recent seven-game losing streak.
Fed up by those mistakes, Capitals coach Todd Reirden used ice time as a weapon to punish players. He benched Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitrij Jaskin for much of the first period after each took a penalty and Andre Burakovsky for the first few minutes of the second for a defensive-zone turnover that almost led to a goal.
Alex Ovechkin returned to the lineup after being forced to sit out Friday against Calgary for skipping All-Star Weekend. Ovechkin powered around Boston captain Zdeno Chara for a scoring chance in the first period but couldn't crack Rask. He will need to wait at least one more game to pass Sergei Fedorov for the most points by a Russian player.
Boston Bruins left wing Brad Marchand (63) winds up to shoot against Washington Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen (2) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, in Washington. (AP PhotoNick Wass)
NOTES: Capitals C Lars Eller was out with a lower-body injury that caused him to leave Friday's game against Calgary. ... D Christian Djoos began a two-game conditioning assignment with Hershey of the American Hockey League. ... Boston improved to 14-4-2 on Super Bowl Sunday, third in the NHL in such victories behind Montreal and Washington. ... Bruins center Patrice Bergeron played his 999th regular-season game.
UP NEXT
Bruins: Host former Capitals coach Barry Trotz and the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Islanders on Tuesday.
Capitals: Host Calder Trophy front-runner Elias Pettersson and the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
SYDNEY (AP) — Belinda Bencic won her eighth match of the week and combined with Jakub Paul in the deciding mixed doubles to defeat Belgium's Elise Mertens and Zizou Bergs 6-3, 0-6, 10-5 Saturday to qualify Switzerland for the United Cup final.
Bencic has won all four of her singles matches and four in mixed doubles this week in the team event. Paul, who won just six tour-level doubles matches last year, hit several down-the-line winners at crucial moments to lead Switzerland into Sunday's final against either the defending champion United States or Poland, who played their semifinal later Saturday.
“He’s so brave it’s unbelievable,” Bencic said of Paul. “I tell him to go (for it) and he actually goes. It’s crazy."
Earlier, Bencic extended her undefeated season-opening singles streak when she beat Mertens 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (0) to put Switzerland ahead 1-0. But Stan Wawrinka, who will retire at the end of this season, was beaten 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 by Bergs to send the match to a mixed doubles decider at Ken Rosewall Arena.
The turning point in the Wawrinka-Bergs match came in the eighth game of the third set when Bergs broke Wawrinka’s serve to go up 5-3, then held serve to win the match.
Tournament organizers started play 30 minutes earlier than scheduled with searing temperatures of up to 43 Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) in the forecast for Sydney.
Bencic had won all six sets in her first three matches at the United Cup. She was two games away from another two-set win before Mertens pushed the match the distance.
Then Mertens came from 3-1 down in the third set, saved a pair of break points that would have given Bencic a 4-1 lead, and was two points away from the set win with Bencic serving at 30-30, down 6-5.
But Bencic won the last nine points of the match following a decision to change her racket to a freshly-strung one, taking the match in 2 hours, 37 minutes.
“It feels like 170 kilos fell off my shoulders — I was so stressed; I really wanted to do well, and today I felt so much pressure to not let my team down,” Bencic said.
On the racket change, she said: “My brain turned off and let my instincts take over. I think it was just a feeling."
Later Saturday in the other semifinal, No. 2-ranked Iga Świątek of Poland was scheduled to face No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States and Hubert Hurkacz played American Taylor Fritz. A mixed doubles match would be played if the teams were level after the singles.
In the Poland-Australia quarterfinal on Friday, it took a mixed doubles decider to separate the teams.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Belinda Bencic, left, and Jakub Paul of Switzerland celebrate winning a point against Alise Mertens and Zizou Bergs of Belgium during their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Zizou Bergs of Belgium hits a backhand to Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland during their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Zizou Bergs of Belgium, right, Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland shake hands after Bergs won their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic, second right, and Jakub Paul, right, of Switzerland shake hands with Alise Mertens, left, and Zizou Bergs of Belgium after Switzerland won their semifinal doubles match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Alise Mertens of Belgium looks up after a rally against Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, left and Alise Mertens of Belgium meet at the net after Bencic won their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland celebrates her win over Alise Mertens of Belgium in their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, second left, celebrates with teammates after her win over Alise Mertens of Belgium in their semifinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
