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The Washington Capitals edged the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday night, to win Game Four at home and even their first round best-of-seven series at two games each.  Despite being outshot 45-21 on the night, the Capitals never trailed in Game Four thanks to a tremendous game from 22-year-old goaltender Braden Holtby. Alex Semin put the Caps ahead for good with a power play goal late in the second period.

“When your goalie is back there making saves like that and looking under control that way, it has a settling effect on a team,” said Capitals forward Brooks Laich, whose assisted on Marcus Johansson’s goal that gave Washington a 1-0 lead just 82 seconds into the contest. “Holtz is going to get a lot of the credit and he deserves it.”

Bruins coach Claude Julien felt his team got outworked in front of the net in Game Four. “That’s the reason we didn’t win tonight … A lot of loose picks around the net that they cleared and we didn’t get to,” the Boston coach explained. “The net-front presence has to be better. Not just screening, but also finding those loose pucks. And they’re finding them better than we are. There’s probably not a good enough commitment in that area right now and until we get that, we’re going to be struggling to score goals.”

Now the series heads back to Boston — which may actually be an advantage for the Caps. Through the first 32 games of the playoffs, road teams are 21-11. The home-ice disadvantage hasn’t been as strong in this series though, with the Bruins and Caps each winning once at home and once on the road. There certainly has to be more pressure on the Bruins as the defending Stanley Cup champions, while the Capitals weren’t even assured of making the playoffs until the final days of the regular season.