Lindholm scores go-ahead goal in 3rd, Bruins pull away from Capitals

BOSTON -- Elias Lindholm scored the go-ahead goal, and Brad Marchand had three points in the third period to help the Boston Bruins pull away from the Washington Capitals for a 4-1 win at TD Garden on Monday.

Marchand had a goal and two assists to extend his point streak to 10 games (seven goals, six assists) for the Bruins (19-13-4), who are 4-0-1 in their past five. Charlie Coyle had a goal and an assist, and Jeremy Swayman made 10 saves.

“I don’t think either team generated a lot of quality chances in the first two periods. Tight-checking game, it was what we expected,” Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco said. “Third period got a little more eventful, and credit to our guys the way they dug in there.”

Bruins forward David Pastrnak left the game during the second period with an upper-body injury. Sacco did not have an update on his status after the game.

Jakub Vrana scored, and Charlie Lindgren made 18 saves for Washington (23-9-2), which has lost three of its past five (2-3-0).

“I thought we checked fine, didn’t give up a whole lot,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “[We] kept them at bay for the majority of the game, we just struggled to really generate anything substantial with the puck.”

Lindholm gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead at 13:41 of the third period, taking a pass from Marchand on a 2-on-1 rush and going forehand to backhand around Lindgren before putting the puck into an open net.

“I was kind of lucky it went into the net,” Lindholm said. “I kind of decided, kind of early, that I was going to fake and go back to backhand there, and obviously nice pass by ‘Marchy’ there, so I was all alone there with the goalie and it was good to see it go in.”

Coyle extended it to 3-1 at 15:59 of the third when he tapped in Marchand’s shot that hit the post and dropped in the crease to finish a 3-on-1 rush.

“That was a good step in the right direction [for our line],” Coyle said. “You feel good about your game when you finish a few times, but again, playing the right way, doing the right things, getting to know each other.”

Justin Brazeau gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 19:12 of the first period on the power play, punching in the rebound of Morgan Geekie’s shot with a net-front backhand.

Vrana tied it 1-1 at 4:50 of the second period with a power-play goal, beating Swayman with a one-timer from the right circle.

“It’s nice that that one went in, but at the same time, we really wanted to win tonight,” Vrana said. “I think everybody [gave] their best tonight, it’s just it’s hockey sometimes. You win and you lose some, and it’s obviously tough before the break, but I think overall we’ve been playing well.”

Bruins forward Oliver Wahlstrom received a game misconduct after a hit that sent Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary head-first into the end boards 10 seconds into the third period. Washington failed to get a shot on goal during the five-minute power play.

“Same as 5-on-5, we just weren’t getting pucks to the net. … They were forcing us on the outside,” Capitals forward Tom Wilson said. “We just needed to maybe find a few more pucks underneath them, get it to the net.”

Marchand scored an empty-net goal at 18:38 for the 4-1 final.

“I can’t say it’s been our best game, but it was a very good game all the way through,” Marchand said. “There’s obviously moments that you’d like to have back, or we weren’t playing clean enough. … But I like the way that we stuck with it. We haven’t been great in the third period all year this year, and to play like that against a team like Washington, that’s all we have to do every night.”

NOTES: Marchand (36 years, 226 days) became the oldest player in Bruins history with a 10-game point streak. The only other player with a double-digit point streak at the age of 35 is Johnny Bucyk (13 and 12 games in 1970-71). … The Capitals had 11 shots on goal, the lowest total the Bruins have held an opponent to since allowing 11 in a 5-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 18, 1993. … Vrana extended his point streak to four games, and he has scored a goal in three straight.