NHL: Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals
Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Montreal Canadiens faced the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night, the second leg of back-to-back games that included travel.

It was an evenly-contested game, which resulted in an exciting 3-2 win for the Capitals.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

The Powerhorse Returns

Josh Anderson made his much-anticipated return to the lineup, and he did not waste any time making a significant impact.

The 31-year-old winger continues to do a good job in his new role, which has seen a clear-cut uptick in penalty-kill usage. Anderson opened the scoring on the penalty kill to give the Canadiens an early lead, a crucial development in what was expected to be a hard-fought game.

Veteran Resurgence

Given that the average goalscorer on any given night is closer to 20 years old than 30 years old, any semblance of tertiary scoring for the Canadiens is appreciated.

Brendan Gallagher followed in Anderson’s steps, scoring his fourth goal of the year while giving the Habs a 2-0 lead in the process.

It’s been a difficult season for Gallagher from a production standpoint, despite his consistency in the work ethic department, making it a nice reward for one of the few veterans in the lineup.

Heavyweight Tilt

Arber Xhekaj and Dylan McIlrath took centre stage in the second period, a battle of two players who tip the scales at over 240 lb.

It was far from the most exciting fight of the season, though they surely burned their fair share of calories throughout. Attempting to hold onto a 6’5″ athlete who is intent on punching you in the face for roughly 30 seconds is the hockey equivalent of challenging a musk ox to a wrestling match.

Inevitable Backfire

The Canadiens attempted to go into a shell early, which is never a recommended strategy in a sport such as hockey.

Shockingly, or not, the Capitals took control of the momentum, resulting in two goals from Washington forward Ethen Frank, including a game-tying goal in the dying minutes of the third period.

You could argue that Juraj Slakovsky could have done a much better job in defensive coverage, but he was far from the reason the Canadiens failed to hold onto their lead. They were simply out of gas.

Overtime

Even though Samuel Montembeault had done a masterful job keeping the Canadiens in the game during an overtime period that clearly favoured the Capitals, the good times ended when Connor McMichael scored his seventh goal of the year to secure the win for Washington.

Regardless, it’s fair to say Montembeault did his part to bank at least one point while on the road, which should go a long way in the playoff race.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Thursday, facing the Sabres in Buffalo.

All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.

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By Marc Dumont
Marc has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for Journal Metro, The Athletic, The ... More about Marc Dumont

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