Capitals defeat Canadiens in Game 5, win Eastern 1st Round series

WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin scored his fourth goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Washington Capitals eliminated the Montreal Canadiens with a 4-1 win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.

Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who are the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division and the East. Dylan Strome had two assists, and Logan Thompson made 28 saves, including 14 in the third period.

“We knew it was going to be the toughest game of the series to win,” Washington forward Pierre-Luc Dubois said. “We knew that it would have to be our best. I thought we played really well. It never goes 100 percent your way through 60 minutes and when that happens, you’ve got to fall back on your principles, on your system, on ‘LT.’ He was great tonight once again. Power play and PK did a great job. On to the next one.”

The Capitals, who had lost five straight playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup in 2018, advanced to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round. Carolina defeated the New Jersey Devils in five games in its first-round series.

“Right now, we’re focusing on Game 1, Round 2,” said Ovechkin, the Capitals captain. “So, yeah, we won a series and we’re going to enjoy it tonight, and tomorrow it’s a new day and it’s going to be a new series. So, we have to be smart and we have to move on and go game by game.”

Emil Heineman scored for the Canadiens, who were the second wild card from the East. Jakub Dobes made 24 saves.

“We came into this game with a lot of confidence,” Montreal forward Jake Evans said. “I felt like every game was tight but there was little things we could fix. It was a learning experience for us. Momentum is a huge thing in the playoffs and they grabbed it more than us in this series.”

Ovechkin put the Capitals up 1-0 with a power-play goal at 9:12 of the first period. Strome won a face-off back to Ovechkin, and his one-timer from just outside the right face-off circle beat Dobes to the far side.

Washington had been outshot 8-1 to that point.

“He was outstanding, the whole series scoring huge goals,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said of Ovechkin. “Tonight is a prime example because when you are tight and you’re trying to settle into your game, to get that first goal is huge and that is exactly what he did.”

Jakob Chychrun made it 2-0 at 11:15. Dubois skated out from behind the net with the puck, waited and then passed across the slot to Chychrun beyond the left post, where he scored to the short side.

"It's a great play,” Chychrun said. “I know he's a high-end player that wants to make plays and I just try to find seams for him, I try to get open. That was just a play where I exploited an opening, and he made a heck of a pass."

Wilson increased the lead to 3-0 at 16:59 of the second period with a power-play goal. Dobes lost his stick trying to stop John Carlson’s shot at the right post, and Carlson got the rebound, went behind the net and tried to stuff the puck in. Dobes made the save, but after a scramble in front, Wilson knocked the puck in.

The Capitals were 2-for-3 on the power play; the Canadiens were 0-for-2.

Heineman pulled Montreal within 3-1 at 2:40 of the third when he deflected Joel Armia’s centering pass past Thompson.

"We had a great start,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “I thought we could have been up 2-0, and we were down 2-0, so just kind of got in the hole. And I think that power-play goal at the end of the second made it pretty tough for us to come back, but we got the early one in the third and kept generating some chances, but I thought they defended pretty well, and their goalie made some big saves for them."

Brandon Duhaime scored into an empty net with 26 seconds remaining for the 4-1 final.

“I feel like [people watching] saw a hard-working team that doesn’t give up,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “We had a good push in the third. And I think when teams give us a little bit of space, we were very dangerous. If we introduced ourselves to the rest of the League through these playoffs -- especially being the youngest team -- we can walk out of there with our head held high.”

NOTES: Ovechkin tied Mario Lemieux for the 12th-most playoff goals in NHL history (76). … Strome has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in the playoffs and has points in all five games. … Capitals forward Aliaksei Protas, who hadn’t played since April 4 because of a skate cut to his left foot, had no shots on goal in 16:48 of ice time. … Suzuki won 13 of 19 face-offs. … Canadiens forward Patrik Laine missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury.