Photo: @CanadiensMTL

The Washington Capitals fell to the Montreal Canadiens by a final score of 5-2 at Videotron Centre in Quebec City on Thursday night. The Capitals dressed only seven players who appeared in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Habs. 

Capitals’ Lines at Canadiens

Tonight’s preseason lineup in Quebec City #CapsHabs pic.twitter.com/Djwr9JFVCS

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 20, 2018

Goaltender Pheonix Copley played the first two period while Vitek Vanecek took the other one. Captain Alex Ovechkin, center Evgeny Kuznetsov, winger Tom Wilson, and defenseman Michal Kempny each made their preseason debuts against Montreal.

First Period

Brenden Gallagher put a dart to the high glove of Copley after receiving a pass from Philipp Danault to make it 1-0 Montreal. Danault stripped the puck from a Brooks Orpik at the Capitals’ blueline and put the puck through the legs of Christian Djoos to get it to Gallagher 3:06 into the game.

Michael Chaput made it 2-0 after he ripped off a Capitals player at the Washington blueline. He got the puck to former-Cap Joel Ward, who fed it right back to Chaput. Chaput buried it low blocker side on Copley at 5:51.

Jacob De La Rose snapped a shot high glove side on Copley from the left circle to make it 3-0 with 36.3 seconds left in the first.

The Canadiens outshot the Capitals 14-3 in that period with two of the Capitals’ shots coming from defenseman Michal Kempny.

Second Period

Gallagher set up Arturi Lehkonen 2:28 into the period on a 2-on-1 rush while the Capitals were in the midst of a line change to make it 4-0 Canadiens.

In his preseason debut, Ovechkin cut the lead to three from his office after getting a pass from Djoos. The shot went through the wickets of Charlie Lindgren on the power play a few minutes after the Habs made it 4-0.

THE OVI OFFICE, BABES! #ALLCAPS #CapsHabs pic.twitter.com/AJaom9flAO

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 21, 2018

Connor Hobbs cut the lead in half with a wrister from the top right circle at 13:10. He got a cross-ice feed from Brett Connolly on the power play and went upstairs on Lindgren.

CHOBBS BOMB! #ALLCAPS #CapsHabs pic.twitter.com/uKDVNws5cB

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 21, 2018

The Canadiens led 24-9 in shots, including 10-6 in the middle frame, after 40 minutes

Third Period

The Canadiens led 27-13 in shots but the Capitals led 4-3 in that category during the third period.

Vanecek began the third period in net.

Kuznetsov was also on the ice on the penalty kill in the third, which he stated that he wanted in his presser last week.

Rinat Valiev threw one on net from the point off a faceoff and the puck floated towards the cage and went off of Wilson to restore the Canadiens’ 5-2 lead.

The Capitals are right back at it as the team immediately heads to Raleigh for a date with the Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow night. Puck drop is at 7:30 on NBC Sports Washington.

By Harrison Brown