The trio of the hour in the NHL was unable to provide at least a point for the Canadian, despite a commendable effort.
Aliaksei Protas broke the tie with 8:03 left in the third period and the Washington Capitals defeated the Montreal hockey club 4-3 on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
The Habs fought well despite some more difficult passages. He overcame one-goal deficits three times before finally giving up.
Juraj Slafkovsky notably took three dangerous shots on goal at the end of the match, when the Canadian was playing six against four. The first two were stopped by goalkeeper Darcy Kuemper and the third by defender John Carlson when the Slovak thought he had an open net in front of him.
Slafkovsky was still angry with himself a few minutes later in the locker room.
“I’m not surprised he’s emotional,” said head coach Martin St-Louis. He is hungry, he wants to make a difference. »
Arber Xhekaj, Alex Newhook and Nick Suzuki scored for the Canadian (22-25-8). Joel Armia had two assists and Jake Allen stopped 30 shots.
Suzuki and Slafkovsky, who had an assist, had at least one point respectively in a 10e and eighth match in a row.
“It’s a trio that has brought a lot of consistency recently,” said St-Louis. These are three players who play with confidence, who are connected. They are capable of handling the puck in the offensive zone and creating shots. »
Anthony Mantha and Protas each collected a goal and an assist, while TJ Oshie and Sonny Milano also made the red light shine for the Capitals (24-21-8). Kuemper made 28 saves.
Alex Ovechkin saw his streak of games with at least one goal stopped at six.
The Capitals lost the services of defenseman Martin Fehervary early in the first period. He needed help retreating to the locker room, seemingly unable to put any weight on his right leg.
The Canadian will be back in action on Wednesday, when they host the Buffalo Sabers at the Bell Centre.
Highs and lows
Mantha opened the scoring after 3:40 of play. He took advantage of a generous return given by Allen following a long shot from Nick Jensen.
Xhekaj responded 1:24 later. He beat Kuemper with a powerful one-timer.
Slafkovsky had a great opportunity to give the Canadian the lead. However, he struggled to control a pass from Cole Caufield during a two-on-one attack and Kuemper made the save.
Oshie gave the Capitals the lead again at 10:00 of the first period, on the power play. He scored with a quick one-timer from the bottom of the slot, following a pass from Dylan Strome.
For Oshie it was a 300e career NHL goal.
The Capitals often controlled the game in the second period, but Allen kept the Canadian in the game with several good saves.
Allen notably frustrated Strome on a breakaway and Ovechkin on a shot from the slot. He was then rewarded when Newhook tied the game.
Newhook scored his first goal since November 29 when his attempted pass to Joshua Roy was blocked, then he recovered the puck before beating Kuemper on the glove side.
Milano got the Capitals going again, deflecting a Max Pacioretty throw past Allen 3:27 into the third period.
The Canadian responded at 9:45, on the power play. Slafkovsky tried to reach Newhook in the slot, but the puck continued its way to Suzuki, who beat Kuemper on the glove side.
Once again, the Capitals came back with 8:03 left in the third period. Nic Dowd saw his first shot blocked by David Savard, then his second by Allen. Protas finally scored on the return.
The Canadian’s offensive stars threatened at the end of the game. However, they were unable to tie the score one last time, even despite having a numerical advantage during the last 1:27 of play.