MONTREAL — For the second time in two weeks the Capitals shutout the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre 3-0. In fact it was the third straight trip to the Bell Centre that finished 3-0 in the favor of the Capitals with three different goalies. This time it was Tomas Vokoun stopping 30 shots of the Habs. The win snaps a four-game road losing streak. The Capitals get their ninth win on the road this season.
The Capitals got their first goal from Dennis Wideman. It was a fluke goal. He got the puck at the point and chipped enough to send it airborne only to float somehow over the shoulder of Canadiens’ goalie Peter Budaj at the 8:10 mark of the first period.
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The score would stay that through the second period despite Montreal being more aggressive. They held the Capitals to just three shots on goal. Vokoun shut the door on three great scoring breaks by Montreal. It was capped with a save off Andrei Kostitsyn late in the second during Montreal’s only power play. The momentum shifted back to Washington after withstanding the Canadiens rush.
The Capitals then got back their legs in the third. Matt Hendricks got his third goal of the season to give the Caps a 2-0 lead 6:11 in the third. Brooks Laich got Budaj off balanced after getting a pass from behind the net. Budaj stopped it with a leg save but left the net empty, as Hendricks eyes lit up and he put it right through the open net.
Alexander Semin turned out the lights with his 13th goal of the season. Semin got a wicked shot on the Capitals second penalty shot of the game that gave them the final score of 3-0. It was the first time in franchise history that the Capitals received two penalty shots in the same game.
Today’s game marked the return of Alex Ovechkin after serving a three-game suspension for a hit to the head of Pittsburgh’s Zybnek Michalek. Ovechkin skated 21 shifts for 19 minutes but managed just one shot on goal back in the second period. But his offense wasn’t needed as the defense was solid. Even when they began to sag Vokoun mopped up their sloppiness.
The win gives the Capitals the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference for now. They have the tie-breaker over Toronto, who plays later tonight against Ottawa. The Caps are one point back of first-place Florida in the Southeast.
