Capitals 3, Canadiens 0
Michal Neuvirth made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and sixth of his career as the Washington Capitals skated to a 3-0 win over the host Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.
Alex Ovechkin locked up the win when he scored on the power play at 10:44 of the second period. The Washington captain unleashed a shot from the point past a screened Carey Price for his 19th of the season.
The Capitals opened a 2-0 lead in the first period, scoring on two of their first four shots.
Mathieu Perreault notched his fourth of the season at 4:41 when he used Montreal defenseman Josh Gorges as a screen and fired a shot over Price’s blocker.
Marcus Johansson added his 10th at 8:23 when he fought off Andrei Kostitsyn and flipped the puck over Price’s glove.
The Caps’ John Erskine received a rare triple minor in the third period – four minutes for high sticking and two for elbowing. The Canadiens, with the league’s worst power play, failed to generate anything on the extended man advantage - even taking a penalty of their own to nullify two of the final three minutes.
Montreal went 0-for-7 on the power play.