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Iginla celebrates 12th 30-goal season by handing Caps costly loss

Boston Bruins v Washington Capitals

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: Jarome Iginla #12 of the Boston Bruins celebrates his second period goal with teammate Andrej Meszaros #41 against the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center on March 29, 2014 in Washington, DC.

Rob Carr

With their main competitors struggling, the Washington Capitals had an opportunity to gain some ground in the Wild Card race this afternoon. Instead, they watched as Boston cruised to a 4-2 victory.

Bruins forward Jarome Iginla scored his 29th and 30th markers of 2013-14 to lead the charge. With the playoffs mere weeks away, he’s one of the hottest players in the league with 13 goals in his last 15 contests.

Excluding the shortened season, Iginla has now reached the 30-goal mark in 12 straight campaigns. He has 560 career goals, which puts him in a tie with Guy Lafleur for 24th place on the all-time list.

Carl Soderberg and Patrice Bergeron each scored with the man advantage. Washington’s Braden Holtby started in just his second game since March 6 and stopped 31 of 33 shots.

For the Bruins, this win was about maintaining their momentum and chasing the St. Louis Blues in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy. Washington is in a far toughter position. The Capitals entered this game as one of four teams tied with 80 points in the battle for the two Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference.

Two of the other teams in that tie, Detroit and Toronto, will play against each other tonight, so at least one of them will put some distance on the Capitals. As it is, Washington is last among the four squads in end of season tiebreaker (wins minus shootout victories), although for now the Capitals have an edge on the Maple Leafs by virtue of having played in one less contest.

Jarome Iginla now has 12 career 30-goal seasons. Guys who did NOT accomplish that: Lemieux, Messier, Bossy, Selanne, Yzerman, Fedorov.

— Mark Spector (@SportsnetSpec) March 29, 2014

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