It was the start of a six game road trip for the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night, and as they embark on this trip without new acquisition Jason Arnott, there was some uncertainty on if they'd be able to keep up the hot play that's given them an eight game win streak.
Capitals Vs. Canadiens: Without Jason Arnott, Caps Pull Out 9th Straight Win
Well, make it a nine gamer, as the Caps worked their way to a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre.
Sure, Arnott's addition to the lineup came in the first game of that win streak -- not a coincidence, surely. But if Tuesday night is any indication, and Arnott misses more than the three games he's expected to at least miss, the Caps should be able to get by alright.
Marcus Johansson, one of the guys who saw his role diminished as a result of the Arnott trade, stepped up with two important goals: the game-winner and the opening tally. Carey Price made 37 saves for the Habs, but in the end that just wasn't enough.
By the end of the game, Washington grabbed first place in the Eastern Conference for a split second, but then....
Elsewhere in the NHL...
Flyers 3, Panthers 2: Philadelphia came back on the heels of two goals from Jeff Carter to beat Florida and hold on to their one point lead in the East. The Flyers hold two games in hand over the Capitals.
Rangers 6, Islanders 3: Bryan McCabe scored an important power play goal and Henrik Lundqvist made 25 stops as the Rangers beat up on the Islanders to hold on to the seventh spot in the East.
Hurricanes 1, Sabres 0: The battle for eighth got a little tighter as ninth-place Carolina came out on top of eighth-place Buffalo. Brandon Sutter scored the only goal of the game late in the first period as the Canes pulled within two points of Buffalo.
Sharks 6, Stars 3: Joe Pavelski had four assists and Joe Thornton had two goals as the Sharks reeled off four straight goals to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 lead. By the end of the contest, the Sharks turned that into a 6-3 win.
Devils 4, Thrashers 2: New Jersey isn’t going away just yet. Consider now that if they win their game in hand over the Sabres and Hurricanes, they’ll be just four points behind those teams with 12 games left to play. Crazier things have happened, right?
Coyotes 4, Flames 3: It’s becoming kind of real right now for Calgary. Could they actually miss the playoffs after that insane run that brought them back into contention over the last few months? They sit in eighth place, just one point ahead of ninth, with two less games remaining.
Penguins 5, Senators 1: Pittsburgh used goals from Tyler Kennedy, Jordan Staal, Ben Lovejoy, Matt Cooke and Zbynek Michalek to keep pace with wins from Philadelphia and Washington atop the Eastern Conference.
Kings 4, Predators 2: Los Angeles might want to fly East more often, eh? With the win over the Preds on Tuesday night, the Kings won all four games on their road swing, bumping themselves five points ahead of eighth place in the process.
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