Montreal Canadiens' Michael Ryder and Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin collide during second period NHL hockey action Tuesday, April 9, 2013 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
April 09, 2013 - 7:15 PM
MONTREAL - Alex Ovechkin scored his 26th goal of the season and Jack Hillen got his first as the Washington Capitals stretched their winning run to five games with a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.
Eric Fehr also scored for the Southwest Division-leading Capitals (21-17-2), who are 6-0-1 in their last seven. They are a perfect 5-0 in April, during which Ovechkin has eight goals and Nicklas Backstrom, who had two assists, has 11 points, all assists.
Lars Eller scored both goals for Montreal (25-9-5), which saw its two-game winning run snapped and lost for only the second time in seven games.
It was Montreal's first loss to a Southeast team (11-1-0) in 2013, but the Capitals always play well at the Bell Centre, where they are 6-0-1 in their last seven visits.
The Capitals owned the puck in the first six minutes and got the first nine shots on goal, but Carey Price made a succession of big saves for the Habs.
It was Montreal that struck first as Alex Galchenyuk led a rush that saw Brandon Prust feed Eller in front to beat Michal Neuvirth for his fifth goal at 15:44.
Ovechkin worked some magic at 7:50 of the second as he slipped past Michael Ryder and fired a medium-speed shot through traffic that looked to dip as it evaded Price's glove.
A long period of fourth-line pressure ended with Fehr being credited with poking the puck in as Hillen's shot went up in the air off Price and landed behind him in the crease at 9:36.
That goal was originally credited to Hillen, but he made up for that 9:36 into the third when his point shot went off a body in front and beat Price.
The officials let a few would-be obstruction fouls go and that had the 21,273 in the seats booing for much of the third period as the home side tried to mount a comeback.
That changed to cheers as Eller got his second of the night with 3:22 left to play as he tipped Nathan Beaulieu's point shot.
Notes: Rene Bourque returned to the Montreal lineup after missing 21 games with a concussion. That bumped Ryan White to the press box. ... Nathan Beaulieu was recalled from AHL Hamilton to fill in for Alexei Emelin, out for the season with torn left knee ACL. ... Joel Ward sat out for Washington after taking a shot in the foot Saturday against Tampa Bay.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013