About Last Night: Habs once again keep winning with a turkey

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Alexander Ovechkin had three assists in the Washington Capitals’ 6-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on the eve of Thanksgiving.

Author of the article:

Erik leijon • Special for Montreal Gazette

Capitals defender John Carlson, right, celebrates his power play goal with center Evgeny Kuznetsov during the first period Wednesday night as the Canadiens' Cédric Paquette skates away.
Capitals defender John Carlson, right, celebrates his power play goal with center Evgeny Kuznetsov during the first period Wednesday night as the Canadiens’ Cédric Paquette skates away. Photo by Nick Wass /AP

Alex Ovechkin is currently chasing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record, but against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, he got closer and closer to the Big One’s unbreakable number of assists. Ovi’s three assists against the Habs in one a 6-3 victory for his Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena places him behind only 1,356 Helpers of Immortality. On second thought, maybe he should keep racking up goals.

As for the Habs, they once again failed to record back-to-back victories, and sat down with a 5-14-2 record heading into American Thanksgiving, usually using a barometer for teams to decide if they are contenders or suitors. Cole Caufield scored his first of the season.

Jake Allen made his return in goal after missing four games with a concussion, as did Cedric Paquette from an undisclosed injury. The Caps lost several key players, including Nicklas Backstrom, TJ Oshie, Anthony Mantha and former Hab Lars Eller.

In the first period, the Caps outshot the Habs 16-5 and led 32-8 in shot attempts. Nic Dowd started scoring at 3:34 when he skidded around Jeff Petry and beat Allen in a rodeo.

Petry’s difficult period continued as the Capitals gained a 2-0 lead with the defender in the penalty area for stumbling. Evgeny Kuznetsov held the puck for what felt like an eternity before dealing an open John Carlson on the spot, who beat Allen with just one beat. It was the fourth power play goal the Habs allowed in their last five penalty attempts.

The Habs gave up one more goal in the first. In his first game back from injury, Paquette’s clear attempt hit Michael Sgarbossa past a stunned Allen for the unfortunate 3-0 scoreline.

Before the period ended, the Canadiens cut the deficit to 3-1. Jake Evans stole a pass into the slot and beat Ilya Samsonov on the glove side with Brendan Gallagher skating to interrupt.

In the second period, the Canadiens couldn’t build on Evans’ goal. Kuznetsov and Ovechkin continued to trample the Habs. After breaking into the zone on his solo, Kuznetsov went to the side of the net to receive a hard pass from Carlson. The forward had no trouble moving the puck in the open cage, giving his team a 4-1 lead.

Canadians once again fell back little by little towards the end of the period. With just over a minute to go in the second, Caufield collected his own rebound which slid against the rear glass and, although Samsonov slid to save the pad, his pad was well within the goal line. After video review, the goal stood and Caufield broke his season-long drought. Nick Suzuki’s assist was his first point in six games.

The Caps put the game out of reach in the first six minutes of the third period. Tom Wilson scored at 1:49, taking a take from an unusually generous Ovechkin at 2v1.

Then it was defender Dmitry Orlov’s turn, who was allowed to skid down the boards and send a puck into the net, which bounced off Chris Wideman and went through Allen to make it 6-2.

Artturi Lehkonen scored his second in as many games to cut Washington’s lead to three, sneaking past the Caps defense for a break over Samsonov. Lehkonen has eight points in his last eight games.

The Lehkonen-Evans-Gallagher line was the ray of light around an otherwise sable cloud. The Habs have already given up five or more goals nine times this season. If the Canadiens’ top brass are using Thanksgiving as an indicator of their playoff chances, then Wednesday’s turkey against the Capitals is another stark reminder of how far the Habs have fallen behind 2021-22. Liveblog commenters have passed the acceptance stage of the duel for a lost season. “Have fun with this blog,” they said. But also: “Changes are needed. Changes are needed. Changes are needed. “

3. “Well that dreaded two-goal lead has now doubled … Will it be twice as difficult for the Caps to protect it now !!?” -Haari Meech

2. “Arizona just won 2 games in a row, 2 points behind the Habs but with 2 games in hand. Ottawa is 3 pts behind but with 5 games in hand. At the 21-game mark, I think we can conclude that the Habs are last in the NHL. “-Dale G

1. “This is so depressing. My wife tells me I’m not in the Christmas spirit this year because the Habs are playing so bad. “-Bob Taylor

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Reference-montrealgazette.com

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