There was a little something for all types of hockey fans on Tuesday in the Bruins-Capitals game at the Garden.

Alex Ovechkin scored a goal on his historic run, a great fight charged the atmosphere and the Bruins made a spirited comeback. And for those B’s fans hoping for the best draft pick possible in June, there was the ninth straight Bruin loss, a 4-3 defeat that was more fun than expected.

The overmatched B’s showed some gumption but Dylan Strome break a 2-2 tie midway through the third period and then Tom Wilson scored on a flukish deflected goal off Mason Lohrei with 5:14 left.

David Pastrnak scored his second of the game and 37th of the year 27 seconds later and had one final shot at the buzzer but Lindgren made the save to nail to the Capital win.

After falling down 2-0 in the first period, the B’s at least showed some fight, literally and figuratively. With the team pretty much out of the playoffs, the B’s still need to show up for work, and they did that on Tuesday, albeit a little late.

“No matter what position we are in, we’re in the NHL, the best league. There’s no day you can take for granted in here,” said Pastrnak. “You’re wearing a Boston Bruins jersey. Pride and compete has to be there every day, whether it’s practice day or game day. That’s what the leaders before us built here and we’re looking to keep it going. We have seven games left and the compete level and passion to show up every day to work has to be really, really high.”

Jeremy Swayman absorbed his sixth straight loss and the nature of the GWG pretty much sums up the year for the team as a whole.

“You can’t really point a finger, that’s just the way it’s going right now. We’re not going to dwell on the past. We have to stay in the present,” said Swayman. “We even had a push after that, which goes to show the team we have here and what we can do to keep pushing. That’s on all of us to never give up and we didn’t today.”

The only intriguing story lines heading into this game had to do with the Capitals. There was the NHL debut of Ryan Leonard, the former Boston College star and Amherst native who signed his deal on Monday after his Eagles were bounced from the NCAA tournament on Sunday.

And, of course, there was Ovechkin, who came into the game just five goals shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record of 894.

The Caps’ captain would pull the Great One a little closer to him before the first period was out.

The game was uneventful until Dylan McIlrath took a crosschecking penalty on Cole Koepke and then Pastrnak had a disastrous power play.

Off the first faceoff, Washington defenseman John Carlson wrapped the puck around the boards for a clear and Pastrnak raced over to stop it at the left point. He blocked it with his skate, which caused him to stumble and allow Brandon Duhaime to break out on a 2-on-1 with Nic Dowd. Dowd took a Duhaime’s pass and, from the left wing, beat Swayman over the left shoulder at 13:32. It was the 12th shorthanded goal the B’s have allowed in this brutal season.

Then, on the remaining PP time, Pastrnak took an offensive zone hooking penalty and, after 31 seconds of 4-on-4 time, the Caps’ PP made quick work of the B’s penalty kill. A tic-tac-toe play led to a Dylan Strome set-up for an Ovechkin tap-in at 15:43. The Garden crowd, many wearing red Caps’ gear, roared in appreciation of the Ovechkin’s ongoing greatness. At the age of 39, Ovechkin was up to 38 goals on the season.

Leonard, meanwhile, didn’t look out of place on an NHL stage as he delivered a big open-ice hit on Jeffrey Viel.

Second periods have been disastrous for the B’s in their tail spin to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, but a little bit of pride kicked in for them on Tuesday.

All of sudden, they were winning some races and their hustle got them on the board at 6:05. Casey Mittelstadt cut off a puck that was meant to go up the boards and out of the zone and it deflected into the slot, where Vinni Lettieri chased it down and beat Charlie Lindgren to make it 2-1.

Later in the period at 14:39, Viel – inserted in the lineup for Fabian Lysell – dropped the gloves with McIlrath, giving up three inches and 35 pounds. Viel took and gave some heavyweight shots in a rousing bout that had its desired effect.

Less than a minute later, Jakob Chychrun was called for holding on John Beecher and, after Swayman was called on to make a couple of saves shorthanded bids by Washington, the B’s tied it up at 17:12. After Mittelstadt did a great job of simultaneously keeping the puck in and thwarting another potential shorthanded rush from Dowd, Pastrnak redirected Morgan Geekie’s pass home for his 36th of the year.

Both teams had chances to take the lead but Swayman and Lindgren came up with big stops. But at 10:37, the Caps got the go-ahead goal. Aliaksei Protas fired a shot from the blue line that just missed the net. It took a perfect bounce off the end board and Strome, who’d been providing a screen in front, knocked home the rebound past Swayman, who’d come to the top of his crease to play the original shot.

The Caps never trailed again.

Boston Bruins center Marat Khusnutdinov (92) dives over Washington Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren on Tuesday at the TD Garden. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)
Boston Bruins player Jeffrey Viel fights Washington Capitals defenseman Dylan McIlrath (52) as the Bruins take on the Capitals at the TD Garden. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)
Washington Capitals right wing Ryan Leonard (9) throws a big check during his NHL debut Tuesday in Boston. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)
Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) celebrates his goal with right wing Tom Wilson (43) and center Dylan Strome on Tuesday against the Bruins. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)