Montreal Canadiens (43-29-8 94pts) v. Washington Capitals (47-25-8 102pts)
Game Recap:
In the final stretch of the regular season the Washington Capitals host the playoff hungry Montreal Canadiens in a game that can decide some playoff fates. In the first 10 minutes of the game both teams would play with a very fast tempo, and would generate great opportunities on both ends of the ice, but goaltenders Carey Price and Braden Holtby have been solid. Then later in the period it would be Lars Eller opening up the scoring with a beautiful backhander that goes above Price’s leg pad and under the glove. However, a Nicklas Backstrom high sticking call would put Montreal on the powerplay and see Shea Weber tie the game at one going into the first intermission.
In the second period the Canadiens would start the period with a little extra jump in their game, but it would be the Capitals striking to regain their lead when Nic Dowd netted his 8th of the season. The game would continue to display a lot of back and forth hockey between the two teams, but the Capitals would generate a few more chances by creating some odd man rushes.
In the third period it would feature a lot of back and forth hockey. Both Carey Price and Braden Holtby played stellar in net keeping the game to a one goal affair. The Capitals would hold off the Canadiens however to win 2-1 and clinch their fourth consecutive Metropolitan Division title.
Lineups:
Montreal Canadiens:
Tomas Tatar — Phillip Danault — Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen — Max Domi — Andrew Shaw
Jonathan Drouin — Jordan Weal — Joel Armia
Jesperi Kotkaniemi — Nate Thompson — Paul Byron
Victor Mete — Shea Weber
Brett Kulak — Jeff Petry
Jordie Benn — Christian Folin
Carey Price
Antti Niemi
Scratched: Nicolas Deslauriers, Charles Hudon, Matthew Peca, Ryan Poehling, Dale Weise, Mike Reilly, Charlie Lindgren
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Carl Hagelin — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly
Andre Burakovsky — Nic Dowd — Travis Boyd
John Carlson — Nick Jensen
Matt Niskanen — Dmitry Orlov
Brooks Orpik — Christian Djoos
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched: Dmitrij Jaskin, Jonas Siegenthaler, Chandler Stephenson
Injured: Michal Kempny (lower body)
First Period:
Capitals Goal – 18:36 – Lars Eller (13) from Brett Connolly (24) and Carl Hagelin (14)
Capitals Penalty – 18:57 – Nicklas Backstrom 2 minutes for High Sticking
Canadiens PPG – 19:32 – Shea Weber (14) from Joel Armia (9) and Phillip Danault (41)
End of 1st – MON – 1 WAS – 1
Shots 14 09
Faceoffs 08 09
Hits 07 14
PP 1/1 0/0
Second Period:
Capitals Goal – 2:58 – Nic Dowd (8) from Andre Burakovsky (13)
Canadiens Penalty – 8:29 – Shea Weber 2 minutes for Interference
End of 2nd – MON – 1 WAS – 2
Shots 22 20
Faceoffs 18 17
Hits 15 25
PP 1/1 0/1
Third Period:
N/A
End of 3rd – MON – 1 WAS – 2
Shots 34 31
Faceoffs 26 25
Hits 22 37
PP 1/1 0/1
Next Up:
Washington (48-25-8 104pts) v. NY Islanders (47-27-7 101pts)
Montreal (43-30-8 94pts) v. Toronto (46-28-7 99pts)
