Caps Double up Habs, 8-4

For the second time in as many games, the complexion of the contest turned during a stretch of 4-on-4 hockey in the middle of the second period, but this time the wheels of hockey fortune spun in the Caps' favor.

Washington winger Anthony Mantha scored a pair of 4-on-4 goals just 34 seconds apart to put the Caps in the lead for good, and they rolled on to an 8-4 victory over the Canadiens at Montreal's Bell Centre on Saturday night.
Playing in front of a host of friends and family, Mantha enjoyed a four-point night (two goals, two assists) in his first game in Montreal as a member of the Capitals. A native of nearby Longueuil, Mantha recorded four or more points for the sixth time in his NHL career.
"It's awesome," says Mantha. "I would say about 30 people are here tonight. A lot of people were excited to come and see me play, obviously. I only got the chance to play once this year - with the [shoulder] injury - in Montreal, so it was good. Good to see family and friends yesterday, and then just happy to put on a performance for them tonight."

Caps blueliner Dmitry Orlov returned from a two-game absence (lower body) to record a four-point night of his own (one goal, three assists), the first of his NHL career.
Washington had the game's first power play, and although it didn't score with the man advantage, it did jump out to a 1-0 lead with a blended line on the next shift. Mantha carried into Montreal ice, curling around the back of the cage before feeding Orlov at center point. Orlov put a shot toward the net, and Nic Dowd deflected it home, putting the Caps up at 12:23.
Vitek Vanecek was strong in the first, stopping all 15 shots he faced and making strong saves to deny Joel Armia at even strength and Ryan Poehling while the Habs were shorthanded, both on breakaways when the game was still scoreless. He also robbed Brendan Gallagher - who was all alone in the slot on a Montreal power play - after the Caps went up by a goal.
As was the case two nights ago in Toronto, the second period was a high event stanza featuring a cluster of goals scored seconds apart while the two sides were each playing with four skaters.
Montreal's Jake Evans tied the game at 1-1 at 1:56 of the second, scoring on a rocket from the right circle to the far side off the rush. The fireworks began about six minutes later when the 4-on-4 stretch got underway.
First, Orlov threaded a lengthy stretch pass to Lars Eller at the Montreal line. Eller bumped it to Mantha, who entered with some speed and made a neat redirect to himself off the half wall. After firing a shot that Habs goalie Samuel Montembeault couldn't quite corral, Mantha did a drive by and swatted it over the line to make it a 2-1 game at 8:03 of the second, just 16 seconds into the 4-on-4 sequence.

Thirty-four seconds later, it was Mantha again. This time, Eller sent him in on a breakaway and he scored from between the hash marks to make it 3-1 at 8:37.
Montreal responded 14 seconds later, pulling to within one again when Ryan Poehling scored the first of his two goals in the game at 8:51.
Things stayed quiet until 15;36 of the second when Evgeny Kuznetsov made a sweet feed to set up Alex Ovechkin for the captain's 47th goal of the season, a rush goal that sent the Caps into the third period with a 4-3 lead.
Poehling scored his second of the night at 2:22 to again pull the plucky Canadiens to within one, but the Caps issued a quick response when Garnet Hathaway scored just 36 seconds later to restore the two-goal lead.
With help from Mantha, Orlov scored from the high slot at 4:30 of the third to make it a 6-3 contest. And just ahead of the midpoint of the third, Orlov and Marcus Johansson combined to set up Justin Schultz's power play goal from the left dot, pushing the Washington lead to 7-3.

Montreal's Nick Suzuki scored with 5:07 left, and T.J. Oshie closed out the scoring with 3:25 remaining on yet another Washington power play. Oshie's goal was a deflection of Kuznetsov's shot from the right circle.
In recording his 19th win of the season, Vanecek made 28 saves, with more than half (15) of them coming in the first period.
Once again, the Caps responded positively in the wake of Thursday's 7-3 setback at the hands of the Maple Leafs in Toronto.
"Obviously the 4-on-4 goals were big, and [Mantha had] a couple big plays as well," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "Orlov had a four-point game, so we had a couple of guys with big nights. But I think everybody was looking for a little bit of redemption coming off the last game, where we didn't play the way we wanted to play."
Playing at home for the second time in as many nights, the Canadiens' collective energy understandably eroded as the game wore on.
"It's been a tough schedule," says Habs winger Josh Anderson. "But every team is going through the same thing. You've got to find a way to create your own energy. I thought we did a really good job [Friday] night [in a 3-0 loss to the Islanders], building off our fans, and same thing tonight. In the first period, I thought we played really, really good. Obviously we had some breakdowns in the game, and it ended up costing us."