Marcus Johansson leads Washington Capitals to 4-2 win over Montreal Canadiens
Rookie Centreman Marcus Johansson lit the lamp twice and Braden Holtby turned aside 24 shots, as the Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 at Bell Centre on Tuesday night.
Brooks Laich and Mike Knuble each tallied a goal for Washington, who extended their winning streak to nine games. With this victory, Washington leads the Southeast Division with 92 points, and remains one point off the Eastern Conference lead behind the
Philadelphia Flyers.
An excited Johansson said after the game, "We played a good game. We played it simple. It was hard for them to get any scoring chances when we play like that."
Andrei Kostitsyn and Travis Moen both scored for Montreal, who have dropped two of three games since a season-best five-game winning streak. Goaltender Carey Price surrendered all four goals on 41 shots in the defeat.
Montreal right winger Brian Gionta was disappointed with his side’s performance. He said," We weren't playing great. (Carey) Price kept us in it. We didn't have the effort tonight. We were a step behind on everything. They were pressuring all over the ice
and we were back on our heels."
The Capitals got the scoring started with Johansson’s power-play goal less than a minute into the opening stanza. Dennis Wideman fired a shot from the point that caromed to Johansson, who put the puck into the wide open net for his 10th goal of the season.
The Canadiens then pulled even in the second minute of the first period when Moen blasted a quick shot past Capitals net-minder for his fifth goal of the 2010-11 season. Washington though, restored their one-goal lead with less than seven minutes to play
in the first stanza. Laich grabbed the puck as he deked in front of Price and tucked it in for his 16th goal of the season.
Montreal levelled the game again at 2-2 in the fourth minute of the middle stanza when Lars Eller centred a pass to Kostitsyn, who hit a high wrist shot past Holtby. In the seventh minute of the final frame, the Capitals took a 3-2 lead with Johansson’s
second goal of the game. The goal came when Johansson got Alexander Ovechkin’s centring pass and beat Price with a back hand shot for his 11th goal of the season.
The Capitals notched an insurance goal to seal the victory with less than four minutes left to play in the third frame when Knuble finished a 2-on-1 break with Marco Sturm by slipping the puck behind Price. Washington held on to the lead the rest of the
way to maintain their winning streak.
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