Washington Capitals cruise past Montreal Canadiens 3-0
The Washington Capitals had three different goal scorers, while Semvon Varlamov kept things tight in defence with 25 saves to lead his side to a 3-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. This is the Capitals fourth win in their last five
games, and they have conceded just 12 goals in their last seven matches.
The Montreal Canadiens made a decent start to the match, as they fired shots at the opposing goal right from the word go. They not only came up with a strong offence, but the plays they developed and the passing were absolutely brilliant. That put
the Capitals under pressure at the start, but they withstood the barrage from the visitors and slowly settled into the game. The away side had quite a few goal scoring opportunities, but they failed to convert them into goals. On the other hand, the Washington
Capitals got stronger as the period progressed. The home team managed to open the scoring in the 17th minute through Jay Beagle’s backhand strike to take the lead. Washington’s attacking game paid off once more as they doubled their lead in the
final minute of the period from Mike Green’s powerful strike.
The period ended with the Washington Capitals leading 2-0. During the course of the 20 minutes of play the Washington Capitals made 10 goal attempts, while the Montreal Canadiens made nine goal attempts.
Both teams made an attacking start to the second period, but at the same time did not leave themselves exposed in defence. The defence didn’t commit themselves into tackles and instead waited for the right time to take control of the possession. The
fact that there was some cautious play from both teams meant the period finished goal less. At the end of the period the score was still 2-0 in favour of the Washington Capitals. During the 20 minutes of play the Capitals made 11 goal attempts compared to
Montreal’s 10.
The final period was no different from the second. The concentration on defence intensified, and the teams were keen on not conceding, than actually scoring. Montreal however knew that they needed to score in order to get back into the game. That meant
all their players went up in attack and left gaps at the back, which the Capitals exploited to great affect. The hosts scored in the final minute of the game through Alex Ovechkin’s well placed flick shot, to seal the victory 3-0. Washington Capitals
goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov was declared the star selection of the match, as he kept a clean sheet and made 25 saves.
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