Ovechkin, Capitals conquer Canadiens 4-1
MONTREAL -- Alex Ovechkin had a goal and two assists to lead the Washington Capitals to a 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night at the Bell Centre.
Ovechkin's goal, a point shot on the power play late in the third period, was the 544th of his career, tying him with Canadiens Hall of Famer Maurice Richard for 29th on the NHL's career list. With his three-point night, the Capitals captain moved to 999 for his career.
Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Brett Connolly also scored for Washington (26-9-5), which won its sixth straight.
Tomas Plekanec scored the lone goal for Montreal (25-10-6), which saw its three-game winning streak snapped.
Carey Price made 35 saves for the Canadiens and Braden Holtby stopped 22 shots.
The Canadiens got the crowd into it on the opening shift when the top line of Max Pacioretty, Phillip Danault and Alexander Radulov headed into the Capitals' end on an odd-man rush but never got a shot off after each touched the puck on passes.
Washington then picked up the pace, taking the next five shots before Montreal got its first and maintaining control of the action for several minutes thereafter.
The Capitals' efforts paid off a few minutes later. Ovechkin fired a shot from the top of the left circle that was stopped by Price, but Backstrom picked up the rebound, lifting a backhander into the right side of the net at 11:03 of the first period.
Bobby Farnham had one of the Canadiens' best chances in the second period when he took a Pacioretty feed and wired a shot from the right side that hit the post.
The home side started to find its legs a bit in the third period and drew several power plays. That led to a few chances, including Shea Weber hitting the post.
Montreal broke through moments later with the man advantage. After hitting the crossbar, Plekanec corraled the loose puck during a scramble in front of the net for his fourth goal of the season and first since Dec. 20 at 7:18. The Capitals challenged for goaltender interference, but the call stood.
The momentum didn't last long, however. Less than a minute later, Kuznetzov deked Montreal defenseman Jeff Petry before firing short side against Price.
Connolly extended the Capitals' lead to 3-1 at 11:00 when Kuznetsov intercepted Price's pass to a defenseman and dished off to Connolly at the top of the right circle.
NOTES: Washington's Barry Trotz coached his 1,400th NHL game. ... Canadiens LW Paul Byron returned to the lineup after sitting out Saturday because of an upper-body injury. ... The Canadiens scratched LW Daniel Carr, LW Chris Terry and D Zach Redmond. ... Washington RW T.J. Oshie sat out because of an upper-body injury he sustained against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. ... Capitals C Paul Carey and D Taylor Chorney were healthy scratches. ... Called up from the AHL's Hershey Bears, Capitals C Liam O'Brien played in his first NHL game of the season. ... Earlier in the day, Washington G Braden Holtby was selected the NHL's third star of the week.