sleddy2008
04-20-2010, 02:58 AM
C/P from TSN.ca
MONTREAL -- The Washington Capitals chased Jaroslav Halak with a four-goal second period and rocked the Montreal Canadiens with a 5-1 victory on Monday night to take the lead in their NHL Eastern Conference quarter-final.
The Capitals hold a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 4 on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
The first goal was the turning point as Boyd Gordon scored short handed 1:06 into the second period. The goal came after Canadiens defenceman Jaroslav Spacek accidentally backed into Halak and knocked him down while trying to stop a two-on-one break.
Brooks Laich and Eric Fehr then scored as the Caps got three in a six-shot span on Halak, who was pulled in favour of Carey Price at 8:33 of the second. Halak faced only 13 shots.
Alex Ovechkin made it 4-0 and Matt Bradley added a late goal against Price, who faced 23 shots.
Tomas Plekanec scored on a power play in the third period for Montreal, which fired 27 at Semyon Varlamov.
The Canadiens outplayed Washington in the first period and had the sellout crowd of 21,273 singing "Ole Ole." But the Capitals showed why they had the NHL's best regular-season record in the second, silencing the Habs with a display of their league-best attack at its deadliest.
The win followed Washington's 6-5 comeback win in overtime in Game 2, after which Ovechkin said Halak appeared to be rattled. While the Slovak goaltender came back with a strong opening period on Monday, he appeared to lose focus after allowing the first goal.
From the end of the second period of Game 2 to the middle frame of Game 3, Halak allowed eight goals on 30 shots.
Laich scored on a long shot through traffic at 4:42 of the second and Fehr went to the net to bang in Laich's rebound at 8:33 and chase Halak. Ovechkin scored his second of the series at 13:50, whipping a shot from the right circle that gave Price no chance.
The Canadiens let their frustration show as Scott Gomez was handed a misconduct for something he said in a skirmish and Plekanec was handed two minors for interference and for complaining about the call.
When Plekanec got out of the penalty box to put Montreal on a power play in the third period, he went to the slot for a shot and then put in his own rebound at 2:25 for his third of the series.
The Capitals went 0-for-7 on the power play and are now 0-for-13 in the series. Montreal was 1-for-5.
Notes -- In the crowd was former Canadiens captain Jean Beliveau, looking his old self after recovering from a mild stroke in January. . . Glen Metropolit, who returned earlier than expected from a shoulder injury, was back in the Montreal lineup, while Sergei Kostitsyn was made a healthy scratch. . . Gordon was back in the Capitals lineup after missing a game, bumping David Steckel to the pressbox. . .Even in the pre-game warm-up, fans were razzing Caps goalie and former Canadien Jose Theodore, chanting Tay-O, even though he wasn't the starter. . . Seated behind the Canadiens bench was boxer Lucian Bute, who defended his IBF super-middleweight title Saturday at the Bell Centre.
MONTREAL -- The Washington Capitals chased Jaroslav Halak with a four-goal second period and rocked the Montreal Canadiens with a 5-1 victory on Monday night to take the lead in their NHL Eastern Conference quarter-final.
The Capitals hold a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 4 on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
The first goal was the turning point as Boyd Gordon scored short handed 1:06 into the second period. The goal came after Canadiens defenceman Jaroslav Spacek accidentally backed into Halak and knocked him down while trying to stop a two-on-one break.
Brooks Laich and Eric Fehr then scored as the Caps got three in a six-shot span on Halak, who was pulled in favour of Carey Price at 8:33 of the second. Halak faced only 13 shots.
Alex Ovechkin made it 4-0 and Matt Bradley added a late goal against Price, who faced 23 shots.
Tomas Plekanec scored on a power play in the third period for Montreal, which fired 27 at Semyon Varlamov.
The Canadiens outplayed Washington in the first period and had the sellout crowd of 21,273 singing "Ole Ole." But the Capitals showed why they had the NHL's best regular-season record in the second, silencing the Habs with a display of their league-best attack at its deadliest.
The win followed Washington's 6-5 comeback win in overtime in Game 2, after which Ovechkin said Halak appeared to be rattled. While the Slovak goaltender came back with a strong opening period on Monday, he appeared to lose focus after allowing the first goal.
From the end of the second period of Game 2 to the middle frame of Game 3, Halak allowed eight goals on 30 shots.
Laich scored on a long shot through traffic at 4:42 of the second and Fehr went to the net to bang in Laich's rebound at 8:33 and chase Halak. Ovechkin scored his second of the series at 13:50, whipping a shot from the right circle that gave Price no chance.
The Canadiens let their frustration show as Scott Gomez was handed a misconduct for something he said in a skirmish and Plekanec was handed two minors for interference and for complaining about the call.
When Plekanec got out of the penalty box to put Montreal on a power play in the third period, he went to the slot for a shot and then put in his own rebound at 2:25 for his third of the series.
The Capitals went 0-for-7 on the power play and are now 0-for-13 in the series. Montreal was 1-for-5.
Notes -- In the crowd was former Canadiens captain Jean Beliveau, looking his old self after recovering from a mild stroke in January. . . Glen Metropolit, who returned earlier than expected from a shoulder injury, was back in the Montreal lineup, while Sergei Kostitsyn was made a healthy scratch. . . Gordon was back in the Capitals lineup after missing a game, bumping David Steckel to the pressbox. . .Even in the pre-game warm-up, fans were razzing Caps goalie and former Canadien Jose Theodore, chanting Tay-O, even though he wasn't the starter. . . Seated behind the Canadiens bench was boxer Lucian Bute, who defended his IBF super-middleweight title Saturday at the Bell Centre.