Another false start undermined the Canadiens’ chances of ending 2022 on the right foot.
Erik Gustafsson and Garnet Hathaway scored early in the game, Alex Ovechkin added three goals and the Washington Capitals crushed Montreal 9-2 on Saturday at Capital One Arena.
For the third time in a row, the Canadian allowed the first goal in the first three minutes of play. And things did not improve thereafter.
The Habs suffered a fifth loss in a row (0-4-1). He was outscored 8-26 in goals scored during that streak.
Cole Caufield ended a four-game drought, his longest of the campaign, by scoring his 20e and 21e goals of the season for the Canadian (15-19-3), which has only one victory in its last nine outings (1-7-1). Jake Allen stopped 31 shots.
Dylan Strome, Nic Dowd, Marcus Johansson and Anthony Mantha also scored for the Capitals (21-13-5), who picked up at least one point in their seventh straight game (6-0-1). Charlie Lindgren made 31 saves.
The Canadian was without defender Kaiden Guhle, injured in the lower body Thursday against the Florida Panthers. Forward Evgenii Dadonov was also left out. They were replaced in the Habs roster by Chris Wideman and Michael Pezzetta.
Forward Brendan Gallagher left the game early in the first half after he appeared to suffer a leg injury. However, he returned to action midway through the second period.
The Canadiens will conclude their holiday trip by visiting the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
Downgraded again
Gustafsson scored 32 seconds into the game, following a turnover from Josh Anderson out of the zone.
The Canadiens conceded another goal at 4:32, when Hathaway deflected a Nic Dowd shot into the goal.
Quietly, the Habs players began to recover from the shock of the bad start. Nick Suzuki knocked on the door, but Lindgren made the save with his mitt.
Lindgren also signaled himself twice against Kirby Dach before the end of the first period.
The Canadian got on the score after 4:02 of play in the second period, during a four-on-three power play. Caufield scored on a one-timer following a cross pass from Suzuki.
The Capitals, however, stunned the Canadian with two goals in an interval of 35 seconds halfway through the second period.
Dowd took advantage of a comeback at 8:31, then Ovechkin came back on the charge as the teams went four-on-four.
Again, Caufield tried to revive the Canadian. He beat Lindgren between the legs with 7:21 to go, after forcing a turnover in the neutral zone.
The Capitals took advantage of a power play late in the second period, then another early in the third period to add two goals. Strome got the ropes moving with 39 seconds left in the second period, then Ovechkin beat Allen with a powerful one-timer 1:22 into the third period.
Johansson and Mantha added the nets for the Capitals, who continued to teach the Habs lesson in the third period. Ovechkin finally completed his 30e career hat trick by scoring his 806e NHL goal with 3:25 left on the clock.