Capitals 2, Bruins 0: Braden Holtby blanked Boston for the second time this season as host Washington moved past the Bruins for the top wild card in the Eastern Conference.

Defensemen John Carlson and Nate Schmidt each scored a goal while Nicklas Backstrom collected a pair of assists as the Capitals snapped Boston's five-game winning streak and crawled two points ahead of the Bruins. Holtby turned aside 32 shots for his eighth shutout of the season and 19th career.

Tuukka Rask, who was 5-0-1 in his last six starts, made 36 saves but fell to 0-3-3 in his last six at Washington. The Bruins suffered their first regulation defeat in nine games (7-1-1) and saw their lead cut to five points over Ottawa for the second wild card.

The Capitals converted on their first power-play opportunity as Carlson ripped a slap shot from the right point to the top left corner for his career-high 11th tally at 12:43 of the first period. Schmidt doubled the lead in the second with his first goal of the season, helped by a fortunate bounce.

A loose puck squirted toward Schmidt, who unleashed a blast that caromed off the arm of Boston's Gregory Kelly and into the net with 6:23 left in the session. Holtby, who blanked Boston 4-0 on Oct. 11, preserved the shutout with 14 saves in the middle session and nine in the third

GAME NOTEBOOK: Backstrom registered his 419th and 420th career assists, breaking the franchise record shared by Michal Pivonka and Alex Ovechkin (418). ... The Bruins failed on all four power-play chances to fall to 0-for-12 over the past three games. ... Carlson eclipsed his previous career high of 10 goals set last season.