WASHINGTON At Capital One Arena on Tuesday, Nick Suzuki scored two goals and provided an assist as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Washington Capitals 5-2.
The Canadiens (21-21-8) were playing their first game after dealing center Sean Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday, and Juraj Slafkovsky scored twice for them. Sam Montembeault made 37 saves, and Mike Matheson had two assists.
The Montreal captain, Suzuki, said, “We had a lot of energy coming back after the (NHL All-Star) break, had two good days of practice, and we got out to a great [3-0] lead.” The game was a little shoddy overall. After the intermission, it was to be expected, but we still managed to have a strong third quarter and increase our lead.
The Capitals (22-19-7), who have lost five consecutive (0-4-1), saw two assists from Dylan Strome and a goal from Alex Ovechkin for the second straight game. After allowing three goals on nine shots, Charlie Lindgren was replaced by Darcy Kuemper, who finished with 15 saves.
It’s not a great moment to lose five straight because we put ourselves in a bit of a hole here, Strome remarked. “We need to tie together some victories. Since we’ve done it before, I believe we can do it once more.
For both teams, it was their first match in ten days.
It was Suzuki who gave the Canadiens the lead 1-0 at 6:42 in the first frame. Cole Caufield entered the zone along the right boards and passed to Suzuki, who scored on a one-timer from the bottom of the left face-off circle, following a turnover by Nicolas Aube-Kubel of Washington near center ice.
With his assist, Caufield’s NHL career-high point streak now stands at 10 games (13 points total; 6 goals, 7 assists).
It took Suzuki less than a minute to make it 2-0. At 7:39, Suzuki scored from below the right circle after Arber Xhekaj’s point attempt struck the right post and deflected.
“Getting two goals early on was definitely nice as it helped you settle into the game,” Suzuki remarked. “Playing with [Caufield and Slafkovsky] was enjoyable, and we will only get better.” It’s wonderful that we’re chatting a lot and figuring out where we’re all going to be on the ice. We’re reestablishing that chemistry.
At 13:07, Michael Pezzetta extended the lead to 3-0. Rafael Harvey-Pinard recovered a loose puck in the right corner, and his pass to Pezzetta was deflected. Pezzetta entered the slot and scored from the right hash marks into the top left corner.
Lindgren was substituted after the goal.
Regarding the switch, Capitals coach Spencer Carbery observed, “Just change the momentum.” “The chances we pass up always end up being the same. We just make some really bad decisions there that, regrettably, affect different guys every night. It’s difficult.
At 6:03 of the second period, Ovechkin’s 10th goal of the year pulled the Capitals within 3-1. Martin Fehervary’s shot at the left post was rebounded by Strome, who then passed it to Ovechkin, who scored into an open net from the right circle.
Regarding the second period, Washington captain Alex Ovechkin stated, “I think it was kind of wake-up call for all of us.” We play in the zone most of the time, as you can see, and as I mentioned earlier, we just didn’t score. We put the ball deep, forecheck, and make good decisions with it.
During that time, Montembeault made 15 saves.
“We didn’t give them much in the slot, even though they were dominating in our zone,” Montembeault stated. “A lot of our guys stopped shots.”
The teams were playing 4-on-4 when Slafkovsky made a wrist shot from the left circle at 11:19 of the third session to make it 4-1.
At 11:41, with the teams still playing 4-on-4, Rasmus Sandin got the Capitals within 4-2. Following a pass from John Carlson, he scored with a one-timer from the top of the right circle.
At 14:01, Slafkovsky scored his first multigoal goal in the NHL with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Matheson, extending the lead to 5-2 on the power play.
Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis stated, “I felt very fortunate coming out of that second period still having a two-goal lead, and we managed the third pretty good
