Capitals Blast Price, Canadiens 4-1, Win 6th Straight

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Jon Sorensen
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Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 Monday night at Bell Centre in Montreal. The win raised the Capitals record to 26-9-5, extending their winning streak to six straight games. The Caps next host the Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday night at Verizon Center. Puck-drop is 8:00 PM, and will be NBC’s “Wednesday Night Rivalry” game of the week. 

Braden Holtby got the start between the pipes. Carey Price got the start in goal for the Canadiens. Liam O’Brien, called up on Saturday (1/7) returned to the lineup for the first time since 2014. The starting lines for the Capitals:

Paul Carey, officially called up from Hershey today (1/9), and Taylor Chorney were the healthy scratches for this one.

QUICK NOTES:

  • Braden Holtby had an excellent game, continuing his top-level play as of late. Holtby went 169:12 (76 saves), before giving up a goal in the third period.
  • Evgeny Kuznetsov had a good game with a goal and assist. He has two goals and six assists in the last four games.
  • Alex Ovechkin tallied 3 points and now sits just one point shy of 1,000 for his NHL career.
  • Capitals penalty kill was 1 for 4 in the game.

FIRST PERIOD
A fairly even first ten minutes of play, with the Caps leading in shots on goal 6-2. Nicklas Backstrom would notch the game’s first tally at 11:03 by knocking home a juicy rebound left on the doorstep by Carey Price.

The original shot on Backstrom’s goal was by Ovechkin, who tallied an assist on the goa, his 997 point in his NHKL career.

The first period would end with the Capitals leading 1-0. The Caps led in shots on goal 12-7 after one period of play. There were no penalties in the opening frame.

SECOND PERIOD
The second period would go scoreless. Each team was awarded a power play, the first of the game, but neither team could make good use of the man advantage. The Capitals led in shots on goal 17-8 for the second period, and 29-15 through the first two periods of play.

THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals fell back into a prevent defense for the start of the final frame, and gave up two early penalties. The Habs would eventually tie the game on a dirty goal by Tomas Plekanec on the second power play.

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However, Evgeny Kuznetsov would get it right back on a dazzling goal at the 8:12 mark of the third period.

The Capitals would extend their lead to 3-1 on a nifty feed from Evgeny Kuznetsov to Brett Connolly for the finisher at the 11:00 mark of the final frame.

Washington would be called for another penalty following the Connolly goal, but the Capitals penalty kill would successfully snuff the Habs man-advantage. Alex Ovechkin would add a power play goal at 16:36, giving the Capitals a 4-1 lead.

With his 19th goal of the season tonight against the Montreal Canadiens, Ovechkin has tied, ironically, Canadiens legend Maurice Richard on the all-time goals-scored list with 544 career goals. The Capitals would finish off the Habs, winning 4-1.

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By Jon Sorensen

SCENES FROM MONTREAL

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
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5 Responses to Capitals Blast Price, Canadiens 4-1, Win 6th Straight

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