Ovechkin’s goal streak ends, but Capitals beat Canadiens 4-3
By Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press on February 17, 2024.
MONTREAL – Aliaksei Protas and Anthony Mantha each had a goal and an assist as the Washington Capitals defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday night at Bell Centre. T.J. Oshie and Sonny Milano also scored for Washington (24-21-8), which snapped a two-game skid and earned its second win in 10 outings. Alex Ovechkin earned an assist but fell just short of tying his career-high seven-game goal streak. The Capitals captain entered the night with goals in six straight, joining Brett Hull (seven games in 2003-04) and Johnny Bucyk (six games in 1974-75) as the only players to do so at 38 or older. Darcy Kuemper stopped 28 shots. Nick Suzuki, Arber Xhekaj and Alex Newhook scored while Jake Allen made 29 saves for Montreal (22-25-8). Joel Armia had two assists. Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky extended their career-high point streaks. The captain pushed his run to 10 games – the longest active streak in the league – while Slafkovsky reached eight in the losing effort. The Canadiens have lost two straight after falling 7-4 to the New York Rangers on Thursday. Tied 2-2 after 40 minutes, Milano scored 3:27 into the third period by tipping a pass from Max Pacioretty past Allen. It was Milano’s first game back from a 27-game absence due to an upper-body injury. Suzuki evened things up again with a power-play goal at 9:45 for his 20th of the season, firing a shot off a defender’s leg and past Kuemper after a cross-ice pass from Slafkovsky. Washington took a 4-3 lead with 8:03 left in the period as Protas ended a 29-game goal by pouncing on a rebound. With Allen pulled for an extra attacker, Capitals forward Tom Wilson took a minor penalty with 1:27 left to give Montreal a 6-on-4 advantage. The Canadiens peppered Kuemper with shots in a frantic 90-second spree spent almost entirely in Washington’s zone, but couldn’t find the equalizer. Mantha, of nearby Longueuil, Que., opened the scoring 3:40 into the first period after Nick Jensen’s point shot trickled through Allen and landed on his tape to tuck it home. Xhekaj responded at 5:04 with a one-timer blast from the point off a pass from Joshua Roy for his second of the season. Oshie regained the Capitals lead midway through the period with a power-play goal from the slot after a feed from Dylan Strome. Ovechkin earned an assist on the play. Ovechkin had a chance to extend his streak nine minutes into the second, but Allen shut the door on his shot from the slot. Newhook tied the game with 3:45 left in the period, following up on his own deflected pass in front of the net for his eighth of the season. WELCOME BACK Defenceman Joel Edmundson played his first game in Montreal since the Canadiens traded him to Washington in July after three seasons with the team. Pacioretty, a former Canadiens captain, played his first game in Montreal since June 24, 2021, when the Canadiens knocked out his Vegas Golden Knights in the Conference finals. The 35-year-old has played just 24 games over the last two seasons after undergoing surgery on a torn Achilles twice in six months in 2022-23. UP NEXT Canadiens: Finish a two-game homestand against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday. Capitals: Host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2024. 27-26
