T.J. Oshie collected a goal and an assist as the host Washington Capitals scored three times in the second period en route to a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
Fourth-liner Conor Sheary and Anthony Mantha also scored a goal apiece and Darcy Kuemper finished with 21 saves for the Capitals, who improved to 11-4-1 in their last 16 encounters with Montreal. Washington also avoided losing its first three games of a season for the first time since 2012-13.
Captain Nick Suzuki scored early in the second period and Sam Montembeault turned aside 26 shots for the Canadiens, who have lost two in a row following a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the season opener. Montreal also failed to convert all three power-play opportunities to drop to 0-for-10 with the man advantage this season.
Sheary deflected defenseman Nick Jensen’s shot past Montembeault to forge a 1-1 tie at 9:02 of the second period before Mantha scored from the right circle 2:41 later to give Washington its first lead of the game. The goals were the second of the season for both Sheary and Mantha.
Mantha’s goal versus Montreal is the ninth of his career, the most he has scored against a single franchise.
With his team on the power play, Oshie cleaned up a rebound following captain Alex Ovechkin’s shot and tucked the puck home to double the advantage with 4:40 left in the second period. Oshie’s goal was his first of the season, while the power-play goal was the first in 10 opportunities for the Capitals.
Ovechkin’s bid on an empty net with less than a minute to play caromed off the post.
Suzuki converted a wraparound from behind the net to open the scoring at 2:01 of the second period. The goal was the first of the season for Suzuki.
Ovechkin nearly opened the scoring with 6:31 remaining in the first period, however Montreal successfully challenged that Aliaksei Protas was offside prior to the goal.
–Field Level Media
