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Montreal was able to stop Alexander Ovechkin goal scoring streak, but Martin St-Louis’ team fell short when it came to grabbing the win. The Capitals opened the scoring early in the first frame yesterday, but they never pulled too far ahead from the Canadiens who came back after each goal. Jake Allen made 30 saves and overall, looked much better than he had done of late. Will it be enough to revive potential suitors’ interest as the trade deadline approaches? Time will tell.
After Anthony Mantha scored the first goal of the game, it was Arber Xhekaj who tied up the score on a cannon of a shot which flew at 102 MPH. That was a much-needed goal for the young defenseman who hadn’t looked quite like himself since he was recalled from Laval. The goal seemed to put him at ease as he skated with more confidence and landed one of his patented bones crushing hit behind Allen’s net while managing to stay out of the box.
Washington jumped back into the lead five minutes later when T.J. Oshie found the back on the net with assists from Dylan Strome and Alexander Ovechkin. It took some time, but 26 minutes later, Alex Newhook grabbed his first goal since coming back from injury. It wasn’t the nicest of goals, but after a trying first season in Montreal, the center deserved a lucky bounce, taking a rebound off a blocked shot and sending it behind Darcy Kuemper.
The visitors took the lead for a third time minutes into the final frame when Sony Milano scored his fifth of the season with assists from two former Canadiens, Max Pacioretty and Joel Edmundson. The Canadiens tied up the game with a Nick Suzuki power play, which meant the captain’s point streak kept going (it’s now up to 10 games) just like Slafkovsky’s who assisted on the goal to push his streak to eight games.
12 minutes into the third period, Protas gave Washington the win when Jake Evans stood helplessly in front of the net without getting his man’s stick. The Pearson-Evans-Anderson line was on the ice for two of the opponent’s fourth goal and was chasing the puck all night long.
Once again, the first line was the Canadiens’ best and most menacing. The trio combined for 17 of Montreal’s 31 shots and Slafkovski lead the way with seven shots, one more than Cole Caufield who had six while Suzuki had four.
Martin St-Louis’ men will only be back in action on Wednesday night when they’ll play the first game of a back-to-back at home against the Sabres before flying to Pittsburgh for a Thursday night tilt. The following weekend, they’ll play a matinee against the Devils in New Jersey before treating their fans to their traditional skills contest at the Bell Centre on Sunday morning.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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