WASHINGTON - Zdeno Chara does not often make mistakes on the defensive side of his game. But in the third period of Game 3 Monday, there was the Boston strongman, looking at the wrong end of Brooks Laich - the back of the No. 1 center’s jersey.

The Bruins were in control. They had a 3-2 third-period lead. Chara and top-pairing mate Dennis Seidenberg were on the ice, patrolling the neutral zone.

Somehow, Laich slipped behind Chara. When Chara finally noticed, it was too late. Laich took a long-distance pass from Nicklas Backstrom, zoomed in on a breakaway, and scored the tying goal on Tim Thomas at 14:00.

“We lost a guy,’’ Chara acknowledged. “We were gapping up. I don’t know what happened. Obviously it’s my responsibility to look around. I thought he was ahead of me, but he sneaked behind. He made a really nice play. We have to be aware of that when they stretch guys. It’s just maybe a lack of communication, too.’’

It was only fitting, then, that Chara made amends at the other end. At 18:07 of the third, Chara struck a slapper. The puck caromed off Roman Hamrlik’s stick and skittered past Braden Holtby to give the Bruins a 4-3 win before 18,506 at the Verizon Center.

“He kind of lost track of him,’’ coach Claude Julien said of Chara’s misplay on Laich. “He didn’t realize he was there. He kind of looked the other way. He looked at [Alex Ovechkin]. Before he knew it, he had snuck behind him. Nice for him to redeem himself and score the winner.’’

The Bruins have a 2-1 series lead. In Game 3, the Bruins won more battles than they did in the 2-1 Game 2 double overtime loss.

“We definitely were better in that area. We needed to be better in that area,’’ Julien said. “I thought as the game progressed, I felt our team getting better. Especially in the second period, our forecheck was becoming more efficient for us. We just kept going from there.’’