Nick Suzuki’s goal at 1:15 of overtime gave the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 victory over the Capitals on Friday night at Capital One Arena. Playing beyond regulation time for the fourth time in their last five games, the Caps had to settle for a single point for the third time in those four overtime/shootout decisions.
Seconds before the Suzuki goal, the Caps had a 2-on-1 rush broken up at the Montreal end of the ice, and the Habs came back at Washington with a 2-on-1 rush of their own. Caps center Dylan Strome broke up the intended feed from Suzuki to Cole Caufield, but the puck didn’t bounce Washington’s way; Suzuki managed to get his stick on it, and it popped up and went in, just under the bar.
“I’m still not sure; I’ll have to watch the replay,” says Caps goalie Logan Thompson, who absorbed the loss after coming on in relief of starter Charlie Lindgren early in the second period. “I know we broke up a 2-on-1, but I didn’t even see the puck, so I couldn’t tell you where it went. Unfortunately, obviously it went into the net.”
For Suzuki, it was his second overtime game-winner in as many games; he delivered the overtime winner when the Canadiens beat Vancouver by a 5-4 count at home, earlier in the week.
Thompson entered the game just ahead of the three-minute mark of the second, a couple of minutes after Lindgren was injured while making a strong save on Suzuki during a Montreal power play in the early seconds of the middle period.
Lindgren was still being evaluated after the game, and it was unclear as to whether Washington would need to recall a goaltender from AHL Hershey. The Caps play again on Saturday night in Nashville.
“It depends on if [Lindgren] is able to go, it depends on what the prognosis is,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “If he’s not able to go, we’ll recall someone from Hershey.”
On the plus side of the Washington ledger, the Caps again squeaked a point out of a game in which they weren’t at their best, and Ethen Frank – recalled from AHL Hershey earlier in the day – acquitted himself quite well in his NHL debut, making the play that led to the Capitals earning that standings point.
Washington went on the power play early in the first frame, and it used that extra man opportunity to grab an early 1-0 lead. After Habs forward Jake Evans turned the puck over to Jakob Chychrun at center point, Chychrun crept down toward the tops of the circles and unleashed a wrist shot that beat Habs goalie Jakub Dobes on the glove side. Chychrun’s 12th goal of the season gave the Caps a 1-0 advantage at 2:56 of the first.
The early minutes of the second were eventful – and not in a good way – for the Caps. As Washington was in the midst of killing a carryover penalty to start the second, Lindgren made an excellent save on Suzuki from in tight, but when Brandon Duhaime bodychecked Suzuki, the Habs pivot crashed into Lindgren. This sequence occurred just 16 seconds into the middle frame.
Ever the gamer, Lindgren tried to shake it off and stay in the crease, but he was removed by the concussion spotter at 2:29 – the next stoppage – when Thompson came on in relief. It marked the first time all season that the Caps made an in-game goaltending change.
Less than three minutes after Thompson took over, Caufield evened the score with a shelf shot from the doorstep on the weak side, taking a feed from Juraj Slafkovsky and tucking it under the bar at 4:56.
The Caps also lost Chychrun for a few shifts in the second after he blocked a shot with his skate boot early in the period. The blueliner went down the tunnel briefly, came back to take a twirl during stoppages in play, and finally returned around the midpoint of the period.
Meanwhile, the Caps were stuck in neutral; they were tasked with killing a pair of penalties almost consecutively in the aftermath of the Caufield goal. Washington managed to escape the penalty trouble without incident, only to fall behind on its next power play opportunity.
After Rasmus Sandin lost the handle at center point, Josh Anderson collected the puck and tore off on a breakaway. He beat Thompson with a backhander to the shelf at 13:22, giving the Habs the lead, 2-1.
Early in the third, the Caps pulled even on a play that looked as though it was going to be an icing call against them. Lars Eller sent the puck down ice from just inside the Washington line. But the speedy Frank got on his horse and barely beat Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj back, negating the would-be icing.
“From behind the Montreal net, Frank shook off Xhekaj with a nifty move, then sent the puck to the front for Eller, who bit the hand that once fed him, firing the puck past Dobes at 1:54, squaring the score at 2-2.
“Carbs’ main point to me before the game,” begins Frank, “this morning at morning skate – was ‘Don’t worry about the systems, don’t worry about a whole lot of anything, just playing hard and playing fast, because obviously good things can happen when you skate in this game.’ And I was fortunate enough for Lars to have a great shot.”
Eller’s goal was the first 5-on-5 goal yielded by Dobes in his young NHL career; it came early in his ninth period in the net. But the Czechia rookie won for the third time in as many starts – he has allowed just three goals in three games – with a 15-save outing.
Just over a month ago in Montreal, the Canadiens carried a 2-1 lead into the third against Washington, only to suffer a 4-2 loss when the Caps erupted for three goals in the third. Once again on Friday night, the Habs took a 2-1 lead into the third. But after Eller’s early goal in the final frame, the Canadiens were successful in rewriting the script.
“We talked about our previous matchups with [the Caps], and how it went the wrong way in the third period,” says Suzuki. “It wasn’t the best of starts with them getting an early goal like that, but we stuck with it. We know we’re playing well right now, so we can beat anybody right now.”
