Bruins fans loved it when Tim Thomas shoved Washington center Nicklas Backstrom in the third period of Saturday’s game. Backstrom kept digging near the crease after Thomas covered a shot, and the Capitals forward absorbed two gloves to the face from the Bruins’ combative netminder.

It was mildly reminiscent of a moment in Game 3 against the Canucks last spring in the Final when Thomas coldcocked Vancouver superstar Henrik Sedin.

Unfortunately for Thomas and the Bruins, Backstrom had his revenge when he scored the winning goal (wrist shot, stick side) nearly three minutes into the second overtime to give the Capitals a series-squaring 2-1 victory over the Bruins.

“Today, I had the last laugh,’’ said Backstrom.

Proving once again that seeding means little in hockey, the seventh-seeded Capitals are giving the Bruins fits thus far in this first-round series. The Bruins took the first game, 1-0, in overtime, and scored only once in four-plus periods Saturday.

Thomas, thankfully, has picked up right where he left off when he carried the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup championship in 39 years last spring. The goalie was MVP of just about everything in 2011 and is playing just as well in the first two games of these playoffs. It would help if the Bruins could score a couple of goals.

Thomas let in his first goal of the series when he couldn’t cover a loose puck that was tapped home by Washington right winger Troy Brouwer at 17:57 of the second period. Going back to last spring, it was the first goal he’d allowed in more than 161 minutes of playoff hockey.

“Pucks like that, normally you put the paddle of your stick behind it and cover it,’’ said Thomas. “But then I realized I couldn’t without jamming Zans [teammate Greg Zanon] in the face. And then the other thing was, you don’t like to cover it with the stick underneath, because you can’t trap it all the way.’’