Saturday, Apr 16, 2022. 10:30 PM
MONTREAL – The Canadian fought well, but eventually hit a wall in the third period, Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
Anthony Mantha had two goals and two assists, Dmitry Orlov had a goal and three assists and the Washington Capitals beat Montreal 8-4.
The Capitals’ offense gave the Habs a hard time throughout the game. The Canadian was able to hang on for two periods thanks to good work on offense, but the visitors managed to do what was necessary to collect the two points.
“We had a good start to the third period and we got the lead to 4-3, but they went straight to 5-3. The fifth goal hurt us, underlined the interim head coach of the Canadiens, Martin St-Louis. It deflated us and it was difficult to come back. They have gained confidence. It was a very difficult third period for us. »
Ryan Poehling scored twice, while Jake Evans and Nick Suzuki also scored for the Canadian (20-45-11), who suffered a fifth straight loss. Jeff Petry had two assists and Samuel Montembeault stopped 33 shots.
The evening was particularly trying for the duo of David Savard and Alexander Romanov, who finished the match at 3 under. They were on the ice on six Capitals goals.
“They have good intentions all the time, but they don’t have an easy task,” recalled St-Louis. They play big minutes. It was the second game in as many nights. They play physical hockey and block a lot of shots. We will revise the match and correct the errors. »
Nic Dowd had a goal and an assist, while Justin Schultz, Alex Ovechkin, TJ Oshie and Garnet Hathaway also got the ball rolling for the Capitals (42-23-10). Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller each had two assists and Vitek Vanecek made 28 saves.
Forward Tyler Pitlick was back on the Canadiens’ roster in place of Paul Byron, who had been granted a day off.
The Canadiens will play their next game on Tuesday, when the Minnesota Wild visit the Bell Centre.
The train derails
The match was much livelier than the day before, when the Canadian lost 3-0 to the New York Islanders.
The encounter was only five minutes old as both teams had already earned several scoring chances.
Vanecek closed the door on Joel Armia and Poehling on the breakaway. Shortly following his save at the expense of Poehling, when the Canadian was shorthanded, the Capitals opened the scoring. Dowd skillfully deflected a pass shot from Orlov behind Montembeault at 12:23 of the first period.
The Canadiens beat Vanecek with 5:19 left in the first period, but Rem Pitlick quietly celebrated, knowing full well he had pushed the puck with his skate and his goal would be disallowed.
It was only a postponement for the Habs, who tied the game following 1:56 of play in the second period. Evans beat Vanecek with a powerful slap shot.
Advertiser-house Michel Lacroix was particularly busy midway through the second period. He had to announce four penalties and three goals in an interval of 2:17.
Mantha hit the target twice in 34 seconds to give the Capitals a 3-1 lead. Meanwhile, Vanecek had pulled off a spectacular save once morest Cole Caufield.
Poehling made it 3-2 just 14 seconds following Mantha’s second goal.
The Canadian then survived 75 seconds of five-on-three play. Montembeault made several good saves to keep the Canadian in the game. He also played luck when Ovechkin hit the post.
Ovechkin redeemed himself with 4:24 to go in the second period. He gave the Capitals a 4-2 lead by beating Montembeault with a good one-timer from the mitt side.
Poehling returned following 2:22 of play in the third period, but Hathaway answered 1:46 later, dealing a hard blow to the Canadian.
Orlov then gave the Capitals a three-goal cushion at 4:30. Schultz turned the iron in the wound by scoring on the power play at 9:50.
Suzuki hit the target with 5:07 to go, but the damage was done. It was Suzuki’s 20th goal this season.
Oshie added another power play goal with 3:25 left on the clock.
Locker Room Echoes
Josh Anderson spent much of the meeting bickering with agitator Tom Wilson.
“It’s part of the sport. When a player attempts dangerous checks on my teammates, it’s part of my job to get involved. »
Jake Evans believes the Canadian caused his own misfortune.
“We shot each other in the foot. We spent the meeting receiving penalties, putting ourselves in difficult situations. It ended up catching up with us in the third period. »
Ryan Poehling spoke regarding the importance of capitalizing on the final games of the season.
“We will not be able to replicate these match situations during the summer. There are six games left before heading home for the summer. We have to take advantage of these encounters, because they represent good training. If we do things right now, it will be easier to do them next season as well. »
Anthony Mantha was happy with his evening’s work.
“It definitely feels even more good when you have a game like this in Montreal. My friends and family were here. I can’t wait to go see them. »
A cannonball by Jake Evans
Mantha pushes his return into the back of the net
Mantha scores a 2nd goal in 34 seconds
Petry does all the work for Poehling
Suzuki’s 20th Where Grandma Hid The Cookies!
