Alex Ovechkin's 30th career hat trick made up a third of the goals scored by the Washington Capitals as DC's team got an early New Year's present in the form of a 9-2 thrashing of the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night.
D Erik Gustafsson and LW Marcus Johansson also helped the Caps with 1 goal and 2 assists each in the blowout victory. Gustafsson (6) was the first player on the board, needing just 32 seconds into the game for a 1-0 Washington lead. The Caps made it 2-0 at the 4:32 mark courtesy of Garnet Hathaway (4). Washington held that lead going into the 2nd period.
Montreal's Cole Caufield (20) at 4:02 on the power play got the Canadiens on the board for what would be Caufield's first of the night. He added Montreal's only remaining goal at 12:39 after the Caps had made it a 4-2 game with tallies from Nic Dowd (9) at 8:31 and Ovechkin's 1st of the night just 35 seconds later. On top of that, Washington would make it a 5-2 lead heading to the 3rd period, from Dylan Strome's 8th of the season on the power play at 19:32.
Ovechkin started the 3rd period with his 2nd of the night at 1:22 for his 25th of the season on the power play to give the Caps a 6-2 lead they would ultimately build upon. Johansson (10) made it 7-2 Washington at the 5:31 mark, followed by Anthony Mantha (9) at 15:43 and Ovechkin's hat goal at 16:35, his 26th puck in the net of the season.
The Caps outdueled Montreal in every major statistic, totaling 40 shots to the Habs' 33, 24 hits to Montreal's 22, 31 faceoff wins to Montreal's 30, and penalty minutes with 8 compared to Montreal's 12.
Washington improves to 21-13-5 on the season, 3rd in the NHL's Metro Division with a newly-fresh win streak. Their next contest sees them clash with the Sabres at home on Jan. 3, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. Montreal, meanwhile, falls to 15-19-3 on the year, dead last in the Atlantic Division and with a 5-game skid to boot. Their next game sees them travel to Nashville to face the Predators on Jan. 3, with puck drop scheduled for 8 p.m.
Comentarios