Montreal 4, Washington 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, February 20, 2020
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, District of Columbia
Referees:
Chris Lee, Graham Skilliter
Linesmen:
Kory Nagy, Andrew Smith
Attendance:
18573
By Field Level Media
Alex Ovechkin scored his 699th career goal for Washington but that was not enough as Ben Chiarot finished with two goals, the second coming 58 seconds into overtime, as the Montreal Canadiens rallied for a 4-3 victory over the host Capitals on Monday night.
Ovechkin is trying to become the eighth player in NHL history to reach 700 goals. He had been in a mini-slump lately, not scoring a point or a goal in his last five games, and had a few chances to reach his milestone but came up short.
Chiarot gave the Canadiens a one-goal lead early in the third period and then got the game-winner in overtime as Montreal snapped a five-game losing streak.
Ovechkin's 699th career goal gave Washington a 1-0 lead 7:29 into the game after Montreal missed on a few early breakaways against Capitals goalie Braden Holtby.
Nicklas Backstrom won a draw in the left circle that came back to Ovechkin. He was in the back part of the circle and sent a shot inside the far post past goalie Carey Price for the early lead.
Montreal tied it when Shea Weber fired a blast from the right point that snaked its way through a bunch of bodies in front and by Holtby. That came with 2:17 remaining in the period and made it 1-1.
Lars Eller then gave Washington a 2-1 lead with 2:57 left in the second period with a strong individual effort. He came from behind the net, and as the puck got into the air near Price, Eller batted it past him.
But the lead did not last long as Brendan Gallagher got control of a loose puck in front of the Washington net and beat Holtby with 1:23 remaining.
The Canadiens outshot the Caps 17-12 in that second period, came up with several more chances, and Washington was fortunate to escape in a 2-2 tie.
Chiarot posted the tiebreaker 30 seconds into the third period when he scored from the edge of the left circle. The Capitals then sent the game into overtime when Tom Wilson poked the puck past Price from in front with 20.1 seconds left.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Montreal |
|
Washington |
|
Ben Chiarot 2 |
Points |
Nicklas Backstrom 2 |
|
Ben Chiarot 2 |
Goals |
Lars Eller 1 |
|
Phillip Danault 1 |
Assists |
Nicklas Backstrom 2 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Carey Price .906 |
Save Percentage |
Braden Holtby .875 |
|
Carey Price 29 |
Saves |
Braden Holtby 28 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Montreal
|
32 |
4 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
2 |
35 |
| Washington
|
32 |
3 |
0-1 |
1-1 |
2 |
23 |
Upcoming Games
-
Washington will play their next game on the road against New Jersey. The Capitals have a W/L % of .605 after a win and .636 after a loss.
-
Montreal will play their next game on the road against Ottawa. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .464 after a win and .429 after a loss.
For more information, contact us