Capitals Late Power Play Not Enough; Canadiens Win 2-1 In Game Seven

Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Montreal pulled off the improbable Wednesday, riding another stellar effort from Jaroslav Halak and goals from Marc-Andre Bergeron and Dominic Moore to beat Washington, 2-1, in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

The Canadiens faced a 3-1 series deficit, but Halak stopped 90-of-92 shots in Games 5 and 6 to help the Habs even the matchup. The goaltender made another 41 saves Wednesday, and now the eighth-seeded Canadiens find themselves back in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2008.

They will face the fourth-seeded Penguins in that round, and the matchup will begin Friday in Pittsburgh. The Penguins are the only higher-seeded Eastern Conference team to have advanced out of the quarterfinals.

For Washington, the series loss can be viewed as nothing but a disaster. Not only were the Capitals the Presidents' Trophy winners during the regular season with 121 points, they had three chances to close the series -- including two at home, where they were 30-5-6 during the season.

The Capitals got their lone goal with 2:16 left, when Brooks Laich backhanded the puck past Halak. Washington continued to scramble and got an extra attacker following a Montreal penalty inside the final two minutes, but the Canadiens were successful in repeatedly clearing the puck, twice nearly scoring on an empty net, and held on for the win.

Semyon Varlamov was beaten twice on only 16 shots, and Wednesday's result meant another early playoff exit for the Capitals, who have been ousted in the quarters in two of the last three seasons.

Alex Ovechkin was held scoreless despite taking a game-high 10 shots on goal.

Washington is the first Eastern Conference top seed to lose in the quarterfinals since Boston in 2002, when the Bruins were beaten in six games by Montreal.