Capitals Drop Canadiens, 6-3; Tom Wilson Scores 6th Goal Of The Season, Alex Ovechkin, Connor McMichael, Jakub Vrana and Aliaksei Protas Also Tally


Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals downed the Montreal Canadiens, 6-3, Thursday night at Capital One Arena in the District. The victory improves the Capitals record to 7-2-0 on the season. It is the fifth-straight home victory for the Capitals.

SUMMARY

Following a pedestrian and fruitless first frame, the Capitals opened the scoring early in the middle frame with a power play goal from Tom Wilson. The Habs equalized with a tally from Cole Caufield midway through the frame and took their first lead of the game less than a minute later on a tally by Brendan Gallagher.

But the Capitals would answer with two quick goals 54 seconds apart from Brandon Duhaime and Jakub Vrana to make it 3-2. The Canadiens knotted it up again with two minutes remaining in the middle stanza on a tally from Nick Suzuki for a 3-3 tie at the second intermission.

The Capitals regained the lead early in the final frame on Connor McMichael’s fifth goal of the season to make it 4-3 and 36 seconds later Aliaksei Protas tallied to make it 5-3. Alex Ovechkin added his fifth goal of the season to seal the 6-3 victory.

LINEUP

Charlie Lindgren (2-2-0, 2.53 GAA, .895 sv%) got the start in goal for the Capitals. Cayden Primeau (1-1-1, 4.02 GAA, .871 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the visiting Canadiens. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Aliaksei Protas-Dylan Strome-Alex Ovechkin
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana-Mike Sgarbossa-Andrew Mangiapane
Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Taylor Raddysh

Jakob Chychrun-John Carslon
Martin Fehervary-Dylan McIlrath
Rasmus Sandin-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren

Scratches: Sonny Milano, Hendrix Lapierre, Matt Roy (injury) and Jakob Chychrun (injury).

1ST PERIOD

The first period would go without a score. The Capitals led in shots on goal, 7-6, and five-on-five shot attempts, 19-9. Both teams were 0 for 1 on the man advantage.

2ND PERIOD

The Capitals opened the scoring with a power play goal from Tom Wilson (6) at 3:21 mark of the middle frame. Alex Ovechkin (4) and John Carlson (6) had the helpers. The power play marker snapped a six-game power play scoring drought for the Capitals.

The Habs equalized with a tally from Cole Caufield (10) midway through the frame at 9:52.
N. Suzuki (9) had the lone assist.

Montreal quickly grabbed their first lead of the night on a deflected shot by Brendan Gallagher (4) at 10:31. L. Hutson (6) and C. Dvorak (3) had the assists.

The Capitals answered two minutes later on Brandon Duhaime’s first goal as a Washington Capital at 11:45. Taylor Raddysh (2), Trevor van Riemsdyk (5) had the helpers.

The Capitals regained the lead on Jakub Varna’s second goal of the season just 54 seconds later. Varna’s marker was also unassisted.

The Canadiens knotted it up again with two minutes remaining in the middle stanza on a tally from Nick Suzuki (4) at 18:00. D. Savard (4) and L. Hutson (7) assisted.

The period concluded with the game tied, 3-3. The Capitals dominated shot attempts, 21-8.

3RD PERIOD

The Capitals regained the lead early in the final frame on Connor McMichael’s fifth goal of the season to make it 4-3. Trevor van Riemsdyk (6) and Tom Wilson (2) had the helpers.

The Capitals quickly made it 5-3 with a tally from Aliaksei Protas 36 seconds later. Alex Ovechkin (5) and Dylan Strome (9) had the assists.

Alex Ovechkin added his fifth goal of the season to make it 6-3 at 12:27. Aliaksei Protas (6) and Dylan Strome (10) assisted.

That would be it as the Capitals held on for the 6-3 win. The Capitals dominated in five-on-five shot attempts, once again, 62-30. The Capitals led in expected goals 3.4 to .i3.

SHAVINGS (Via Capitals PR)

  • Tom Wilson scored his sixth goal of the season to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead. Wilson’s six goals in nine games played this season leads Washington.
  • Alex Ovechkin recorded his fourth assist of the season on Wilson’s power-play goal. In 59 career games vs. Montreal, Ovechkin has recorded 68 points (38g, 30a). Ovechkin’s 38 goals and 68 points against the Canadiens are the most among active players.
  • Brandon Duhaime and Jakub Vrana scored 54 seconds apart to give the Capitals a 3-2 lead. It marks the second time this season the Capitals have scored two goals within one minute of each other (0:57, Aliaksei Protas and Jakob Chychrun, 10/15/24 vs. VGK). Duhaime’s goal is his first as a Capital.
  • Connor McMichael scored his fifth goal of the season and has now recorded nine points (5g-4a–9p) in his last seven games.
  • Tom Wilson tallied his second assist of the season on Washington’s fourth goal. With a goal and an assist tonight, Wilson has registered his second multi-point game of the season.
  • Trevor van Riemsdyk recorded the primary assist on McMichael’s go-ahead goal, his second assist of the game. It marks van Riemsdyk’s second multi-assist game of the season and the sixth of his career.
  • Alex Ovechkin recorded his second assist game on Washington’s fifth goal. Ovechkin, who tallied his 700th career assist on Oct. 15 vs. Vegas, has registered his 128th career multi-assist game.
  • Dylan Strome tallied his ninth assist of the season on Protas’ goal. Strome, who leads Washington in points (12), has tallied at least one point in eight of Washington’s nine games to start the 2024-25 season.
  • Alex Ovechkin’s goal marks his first career goal against Cayden Primeau, the 176th different goaltender Ovechkin has scored on in his career. Only Jaromir Jagr (178) and Patrick Marleau (177) have scored on more goaltenders in NHL history.
  • Alex Ovechkin has scored three goals in his last two games and now needs 37 goals to pass Wayne Gretzky (894g) for first on the NHL’s all-time goals list.

NHL Box Score

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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