Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals ended their four-game road defeating the Montreal Canadiens by a final score of 5-4 in overtime at Bell Centre on Monday night on a Lars Eller marker in overtime. Goaltender Braden Holtby got the win making 22 saves in relief after replacing Pheonix Copley at the beginning of the second period after allowing three goals on 18 shots. 

Capitals Lines at Canadiens

#Caps‘ lines at MON:
8-Ovechkin, 20-Eller, 43-Wilson
13-Vrana, 19-Backstrom, 65-Burakovsky
18-Stephenson, 72-Boyd, 25-Smith-Pelly
23-Jaskin, 26-Dowd, 10-Connolly

9-Orlov, 74-Carlson
6-Kempny, 2-Niskanen
29-Djoos, 22-Bowey

Copley vs. Price. #CapsHabs

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) November 20, 2018

Center Evgeny Kuznetsov and forward T.J. Oshie each missed their second consecutive game dealing with upper-body injuries. Defenseman Brooks Orpik missed his tenth consecutive game with a lower-body injury. Goaltender Braden Holtby, who has missed the past two games with an upper-body injury, returned as the backup goaltender. The Capitals went with the same lineup from their 3-2 overtime win at the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.

First Period

Defenseman Mike Reilly weaved around the outside and threw it blocker side on Copley after getting the puck in the offensive zone for a 1-0 Canadiens lead 9:20 into the game.

Forward Brett Connolly tapped in a shot from defenseman John Carlson that banked off the backboard on the doorstep to tie the game at one with 6:44 left in the opening frame.

.@bconnolly8 absolutely flying early in Montreal! #CapsHabs #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/VpIW9IVU0K

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 20, 2018

Captain Alex Ovechkin redirected in forward Tom Wilson’s shot from near the wall on the goal mouth for a 2-1 lead 1:24 after Connolly tied the game.

.@ovi8 performs in this city! #CapsHabs #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/Ycu63nTa6E

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 20, 2018

Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen threw the mits with Canadiens forward Kenny Agistino with 2:26 remaining in the first after Agistino drilled forward Devante Smith-Pelly into the boards.

The Capitals led 8-6 in blocked shots and 4-2 in takeaways after 20 minutes of play. They won 57% of the faceoffs in the first period.

The Canadiens led 18-8 in shots and only had seven giveaways while the Caps had 11 in the first frame. Montreal went 0-for-1 on the man advantage in the first period.

Second Period

Forward Brendan Gallagher tapped in his 10th of the season in the crease 20 seconds into the middle frame after center Philipp Danault threw it on net from the side of the goal to tie the game.

Defenseman Jeff Petry tucked the puck past Copley on a goal-mouth scramble 48 seconds later on the power-play for a 3-2 Canadiens lead.

Arturri Lehkonen threw the puck on net from the high point and Agistino tipped it past Copley glove side for their third goal in 1:35 of the second period. Holtby replaced Copley in goal for the Capitals.

Center Nicklas Backstrom finished off a nice cross-ice passing play by defenseman Christian Djoos from near the goal line. The pass went off of a Canadiens’ defenseman and to Backstrom near the right post and Backstrom buried it past Price to cut the Canadiens’ lead to 4-3 with 6:40 left in the middle frame.

NICKY CONTINUES TO PACE THE CAPS IN POINTS! #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/9xapLSib06

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 20, 2018

Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov scrapped with Canadiens forward Max Domi with 1:12 left in the period and took Domi down to the ice.

The Capitals led 11-10 in blocked shots and 18-15 in hits. Washington won 56% of the faceoffs through 40 minutes. They entered the third period going 0-for-1 on the man advantage.

The Canadiens led 34-19 in shots, including 16-11 in the second period, 8-7 in takeaways. Montreal had only 10 giveaways while Washington had 17. They went 1-for-4 on the power play through 40 minutes of play.

Third Period

Ovechkin scored again from his office on a pass from Carlson 1:02 into the period on the power play. The shot went blocker-side on Price to tie the game at four.

Everyone knows it’s coming #CapsHabs #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/6AnZuU7Y4P

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 20, 2018

Ovechkin was denied of a hat-trick at the blocker side by Price after Ovechkin zipped it from the left circle with 0.3 seconds left.

Price robs Ovechkin AGAIN. Unreal. #CapsHabs pic.twitter.com/XDGyXWyNPM

— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) November 20, 2018

The Capitals led 14-7 in third-period shots, 17-11 in blocked shots, and 27-20 in hits. Washington won 53% of the faceoffs. They went 1-for-2 on the man advantage.

The Canadiens led 41-33 in shots and 10-8 in takeaways. Montreal had only 15 giveaways while Washington had 21. They went 1-for-4 on the power play.

The game would go to overtime for the second straight game for the Capitals.

Overtime

Holtby denied Gallagher with a split save with 2:45 left after Gallagher got a nice cross-ice feed from Danault.

Eller, the former-Canadien, burned his former team snapping five-hole on Price after getting the pass in the offensive​ zone from Jakub Vrana.

Tiger style #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/prtAQHWiMO

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 20, 2018

Despite winning in overtime, the Capitals were outshot 3-1 in the extra session.

The Capitals next host the Chicago Blackhawks at 7 PM on Wednesday night. Action from Capital One Arena can be seen on NBC Sports Washington.

By Harrison Brown