Ovechkin’s goal streak ends, but Capitals beat Canadiens 4-3

MONTREAL (AP) — Aliaksei Protas and Anthony Mantha each had a goal and an assist as the Washington Capitals defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday night.

T.J. Oshie and Sonny Milano also scored for Washington, which snapped a two-game skid and earned its second win in 10 outings.

Alex Ovechkin earned an assist but fell just short of tying his career-high seven-game goal streak.

The Capitals captain entered the night with goals in six straight, joining Brett Hull (seven games in 2003-04) and Johnny Bucyk (six games in 1974-75) as the only players to do so at 38 or older.

Darcy Kuemper stopped 28 shots.

Nick Suzuki, Arber Xhekaj and Alex Newhook scored while Jake Allen made 30 saves for Montreal. Joel Armia had two assists.

Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky extended their career-high point streaks. The captain pushed his run to 10 games — the longest active streak in the league — while Slafkovsky reached eight in the losing effort.

The Canadiens have lost two straight after falling 7-4 to the New York Rangers on Thursday.

Tied 2-2 after 40 minutes, Milano scored 3:27 into the third period by tipping a pass from Max Pacioretty past Allen. It was Milano’s first game back from a 27-game absence due to an upper-body injury.

Suzuki evened things up again with a power-play goal at 9:45 for his 20th of the season, firing a shot off a defender’s leg and past Kuemper after a cross-ice pass from Slafkovsky.

Washington took a 4-3 lead with 8:03 left in the period as Protas ended a 29-game goal drought by pouncing on a rebound.

With Allen pulled for an extra attacker, Capitals forward Tom Wilson took a minor penalty with 1:27 left to give Montreal a 6-on-4 advantage.

The Canadiens peppered Kuemper with shots in a frantic 90-second spree spent almost entirely in Washington’s zone, but couldn’t find the equalizer.

Defenseman Joel Edmundson played his first game in Montreal since the Canadiens traded him to Washington in July after three seasons with the team.

Pacioretty, a former Canadiens captain, played his first game in Montreal since June 24, 2021, when the Canadiens knocked out his Vegas Golden Knights in the Conference finals.

UP NEXT

Capitals: Host New Jersey on Tuesday night.

Canadiens: Host Buffalo on Wednesday night to finish a two-game homestand.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL