17:45 great sprawling save by Tim Thomas in the opening minutes of the second period as Washington sniper Alex Semin waltzed through the traffic in front and fired a forehand bid.

14:20: solid back to back pad saves by Thomas after a nifty Ovechkin pass — a skill that is highly underrated in the Russian superstar’s game — freed Victor Kozlov in the high slot, and the big center took two shots at the Boston cage. Thomas blocked the first one and then smothered Kozlov’s rebound attempt.

11:12: For the 45th time this season, Alex Ovechkin fired up the red lamp when he fired a sizzling wrist shot past Tim Thomas to give the Caps a 2-1 lead.

9:06: The B’s stormed right back when Marc Savard — with a Capitals defender draped all over him — found a wide open Phil Kessel by the right faceoff circle, and Kessel flipped a shot through Jose Theodore’s five home to tie things up. The goal is Kessel’s 26th of the season and his second in his last four games.

7:23: Two great saves by Theodore, as he stoned Patrice Bergeron on a one-time attempt from P.J. Axelsson and then blocked Bergeron’s backhanded rebound attempt.

7:00: Breakaway attempt for Caps center Brooks Laich, but Thomas closed up the pads and stoned his bid to tuck the puck between Timmy the goalie man’s pads.

00:25: Shawn Thornton was denied on a rebound attempt from the slot that hopped right onto his stick. Another solid game for Boston’s fourth line against Washington today.

The B’s and Caps are tied 2-2 after two full periods of hockey in a potential Eastern Conference final matcup between the two best teams in the East.