Montreal, QC (Sports Network) - Alex Ovechkin scored twice and added an assist to help the Washington Capitals take a 6-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
Capitals 6, Canadiens 3: Ovechkin Scores Twice, Caps Take 3-1 Series Lead
The Capitals now own a 3-1 lead in the series with the chance to close it out back home on Friday in Game 5. The last time the Capitals had a 3-1 series lead was against Buffalo in 1998 during the Eastern Conference Finals, which the Caps won in six games before being swept by the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and two assists, Mike Knuble scored twice and Jason Chimera had a goal for the Capitals, who have won three straight after dropping the opener. Semyon Varlamov, making his second straight start in place of Jose Theodore, stopped 36 shots.
Dominic Moore, Michael Cammalleri and Brian Gionta each notched a goal for the Canadiens, who are staring at a first-round exit for the second straight year. Carey Price, starting in place of Jaroslav Halak, made 32 stops on 36 shots in the loss.
The Caps scored late in the second period to tie the game and carried the momentum over into the third period.
Washington grabbed a 3-2 lead at the 11:09 mark. Alexander Semin carried the puck out of his own end and had the puck knocked away from his stick while skating in the Montreal zone, but the disc went right to Ovechkin, who lasered a wrister past Price.
Just 52 seconds later, a Montreal turnover in its own end led to another Washington goal. Matt Bradley worked the puck behind the net and from the right side sent it over to the left, where Chimera had the easy tap in for the insurance goal.
Montreal pulled Price with over 2 1/2 minutes to play, and Knuble put the puck into the empty net with 2:27 left.
Dominic Moore got the puck into the net on a top-shelf backhander from the right side, but it was with 1:18 to play, and Backstrom added another empty- netter in the final moments of the game.
The Capitals drew first blood in the game with their first power-play goal of the series. With Andrei Kostitsyin in the box for high sticking, Ovechkin sent a wrister past Price from the right circle at the 8:10 mark.
Montreal, though, evened the game 62 seconds later, as Glen Metropolit tried to stuff the puck in from the right side and Cammalleri backhanded the rebound in.
The Canadiens dominated play through most of the second period and outshot Washington, 21-9, but at the end of 40 minutes the score was still tied.
Skating on the power play, the Habs took a 2-1 lead. Andrei Markov sent a pass from the left point to the low left circle where Gionta got it in on his second attempt with 5:18 to play in the middle stanza.
Washington took a too many men on the ice penalty with 1:55 to play in the frame but were able to get the shorthanded goal. A 2-on-1 the other way saw Boyd Gordon send a saucer pass over the stick of a Montreal defender, and Knuble redirected the puck in from the right side with just seven seconds left on the clock.
Prior to the power-play goal, Washington was 0-for-15 with the man advantage in the series. The Capitals finished the regular season tops on the power play with a 25.2 percent success rate...Ovechkin has four goals and four assists in the series, while Backstrom has five goals and four assists...Washington went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Montreal was 1-for-4.
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