WASHINGTON — Moments after embracing former Boston captain Zdeno Chara in the handshake line, Patrice Bergeron acknowledged he hadn’t thought much about what was different about winning his first series with the “C” on his chest.

For Bergeron and the Bruins, it was just another step forward.

“We’re a team where it feels special to win together, everyone chipping in and contributing,” he said. “I’m just happy we got the win and we finished it off and we can look forward and move on to round two.”

They’re moving on to face either the Pittsburgh Penguins or New York Islanders after steamrolling the Washington Capitals in five games. Three went to overtime, including Boston’s only loss in the series opener, but as the games went on it was clear which team was superior.

“Game by game we got better,” said goaltender Tuukka Rask, who stopped 159 of 169 shots. “We had everybody going, which was huge. Everybody contributed, offensively, defensively. We did a lot of little things right. I think that probably ended up being the difference. We were just a better team all around.”

It didn’t used to be that way between the Bruins and Capitals. Washington won 14 in a row against Boston from 2014-19 but bowed out in the first round for the third consecutive year since winning the Cup.