Ovechkin Held Pointless In Capitals Loss To Habs

The Montreal Canadiens can breath a sigh of relief after last night's game against the Washington Capitals. Somehow they were able to keep Alexander Ovechkin off the score sheet in their 3-2 win at Washington last night. Maybe Ovie is still a little tuckered out after returning from injury, but he did get 5 shots on Habs goalie Carey Price. The Capitals really turned up the heat in the final 2 periods, outshooting Montreal 27-8 in the final 40 minutes as they tried deperately to get the tie and force overtime.

The Capitals started slowly, getting 7 shots on Price in the 1st period, while the Canadiens came out expecting the usual flurry of red Caps shirts. The Habs got 14 shots on Caps netminder Michal Neuvirth who was appearing in his first game of the year. Neuvirth is something of a rookie himself, only putting in 5 appearances last year for Washington. He spent most of last season with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL and the Hersey Bears of the AHL, with 22 appearances in the Bears playoff run last year.

Eric Fehr put the Caps up 1-0 with his 3rd goal of the year about halfway through the 1st period. Montreal took a 2-1 lead in the 2nd on goals by Travis Moen and Tomas Plekanec. Michael Cammalleri put the Habs up 3-1 at 12:29 on the power play when Caps center was sent off for tripping. Cammalleri's goal was his 9th of the season, tops for Montreal. Plekanec recorded an assist on the goal to add to his team-high 21 points.

Washington center Brendan Morrison got the Caps back within one goal when he beat Price at 17:28 and the Capitals went on the power play with a minute and a half remaining in the 3rd when Maxim Lapierre was sent off for hooking, but Washington couldn't get the tieing goal behind Price.

Montreal is trying to win their 3rd straight game for only the second time this season when they host the Detroit Red Wings tonight. Washington should have an easier opponent tonight when the head to Toronto to face the Leafs who sit in last place overall following their most recent loss.