(Washington) TJ Oshie punctuated a three-goal rush for the Capitals 6:18 in the second period on Saturday as Washington inflicted a 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
Posted at 10:07 p.m.
Conor Sheary and Anthony Mantha had the other goals for the Capitals, while the Canadian’s reply came from Nick Suzuki.
Samuel Montembeault made 26 saves for the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, which was in its third game in four nights.
Darcy Kuemper blocked 21 shots, helping the Capitals earn their first win this season in three outings.
Things had however turned out well as a curtain raiser for the season in Montreal, with CH winning 4-3 against the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. The Canadian will find his supporters on Monday evening, against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Capitals will prepare to host the Canucks on Monday.
Playing a first game this season, Montembeault was solid in the first period, first on a veiled shot from Nic Dowd, from the second minute. Immediately after a face-off won by Washington in the opposing zone, he moved his right arm just enough to stop a shot from Alexander Ovechkin, who is still looking for a first goal this season.
Dmitry Orlov was punished for tripping in the middle of the first period. Chris Wideman and Josh Anderson went for safe shots and after a few clearances from the Caps, a Jonathan Drouin try failed in the spectators and then Cole Caufield’s tight angle shot was stopped.
The Caps had yielded on the first penalty kill in each of their first two games.
Then, the crowd at Capital One Arena thought they were watching Ovechkin’s first goal, 13:29 into the first period. The pass from the tip of Erik Gustafsson well targeted the Russian who successfully deflected from the left mouth.
Canadian head coach Martin St-Louis still requested a review for offside, and the referees could see that was indeed the case.
Ovechkin also hit the post with a minute left in the game when Montembeault was back on the bench, in favor of one more striker.
Captain Suzuki gave the visitors a 1-0 lead with 2min 1s into the middle period. He grabbed the puck after an imprecise shot from the blue line and scored his first goal of the season rounding the net, after deftly evading cover Nick Jensen. It was the first time in 2022-2023 that Sainte-Flanelle obtained the first goal of a meeting.
The game took a new turn in the second period, however, with the Capitals scoring three goals in 6:18.
Just 16 seconds after leaving the penalty bench (he had tripped), Sheary redirected a pass from Nick Jensen, at 9 min 2 s
Then, 2 min 41 s later, Anthony Mantha gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead with a goal from the slot, following a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Originally from Longueuil, Mantha continues to have success against the Habs: he has nine goals in 19 games against the CH.
Sheary and Mantha hit the target for the second time this season.
Oshie completed the push after a brief scramble in front of the net. Mike Hoffman was in jail for darting. It was the Capitals’ first penalty shootout goal this season, on 10 occasions.
Early in the third period, a shot from David Savard hit the crossbar, shortly after a good shot from close range from Brendan Gallagher.
The CH missed a numerical advantage in the middle of the third period. Kuemper stepped up to it, making a solid right-leg save against Gallagher.
Earlier Saturday, the Canadiens traded forward Filip Mesar to the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Junior League. The right winger played his first professional game in North America on Friday with the Laval Rocket. The 18-year-old Slovak took part in three preseason games with the Canadian.
Mesar was drafted 26e altogether in July.