Now that’s the Capitals offense we’ve been waiting to see. After back-to-back overtime games in Washington, the Caps exploded for 4 goals in the 2nd period, chased Jaroslav Halak to the showers and put this one away early, as they took a 2-1 series lead on enemy ice in Montreal on Monday.
After a scoreless first that saw the Canadiens actually outplay the Caps and outshoot them 10-7, the Caps came alive in the 2nd period. Boyd Gordon crashed the net for his own rebound and gave Washington a 1-0 lead on a shorthanded goal early in the period, and then the dorrs just came off for Halak and the Habs. Brooks Laich’s seeing eye shot somehow found its way through a screen of bodies and beat Halak to put Washington up 2-0, and Eric Fehr’s rebound tap-in a few minutes later prompted Montreal coach to replace Halak with Carey Price.
Price didn’t get much of a welcome from the Caps, as Alex Ovechkin scored his 2nd goal of the playoffs with a blistering shot that Price never had a chance on. Tomas Plekanec broke Semyon Varlamov’s shutout with a powerplay goal early in the 3rd, but the Habs never had a chance to get back this one, and Matt Bradley added insult to injury with his goal in the final minute.
Seyon Varlamov was great in net for the Caps, earning the first star with 26 saves on the night, and continued his great run in the playoffs
The only area the Caps still struggled in was their powerplay. Washington was 0-7 on the night, and still haven’t been able to find a way to manufacture offense with the man advantage. They look like they’ve got the Habs figured out, though, and are finally looking like the team they were all regular season.