Braden Holtby makes one of his 44 saves against the Boston Bruins in the Capitals’ 2-1 victory last night at the Verizon Center. (Photo by Clydeorama)

Capitals 2, Bruins 1: The Boston Bruins, seemingly bolstered by the absence of Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom, fired off 45 shots on goal at the Verizon Center last night. Only one managed to find its way past 22-year-old rookie goaltender Braden Holtby, who pulled off perhaps the biggest game in his young career and prevented the Bruins from taking a 3-1 series lead as the first-round matchup heads back to Boston. The puck spent most of the evening closer to Holtby’s end of the rink, as the Bruins’ Tim Thomas saw only 21 shots on goal. But it was enough for the Caps, with Alexander Semin scoring the game-winning goal deep in the second period. And even though he had to make more than twice as many saves as his opposite number, last night was nothing but a blast for Holtby. “My type of fun is intensity, is big games, big moments,” he told the Post after the game.

The series is tied at two games a piece, and continues tomorrow in Boston before heading back to Washington on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Verizon Center.

Astros 11, Nationals 4: Let’s just call this one a fluke, OK? Edwin Jackson, one of the Nationals’ rotation of fireballers, had a nightmarish first inning, giving up three triples and five runs as the otherwise unremarkable Houston Astros managed their way through the batting order. “It just wasn’t our night,” Ryan Zimmerman, whose three-run home run in the third inning briefly made it a close game, told the Post. Tom Gorzelanny, brought in for relief in the sixth inning, fared even worse, letting in six runs on eight hits over two painful innings. Hey, you can’t win them all, but even though the Nats dropped to 10-4 on the season, they’re still leading the National League East by a game and a half with the Miami Marlins coming into town tonight. Ross Detweiler gets the start.