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Tuesday’s game against Washington started off with lots of excitement with two errors resulting in early goals as well as a goal waved off all in the first five minutes of the game. The game remained close until the Capitals managed to finish off a couple chances in the third period and leave Montreal with a two-goal victory
by a count of 4-2.

The Capitals got on the board first after benefiting from a fortuitous bounce
off the much talked about seamless glass which left Carey Price stranded behind
the net and a wide open goal for Marcus Johansson to open the scoring. Only 19
seconds later, Montreal was the beneficiary after another dump in and poor
clearance resulted in Washington goalie Braden Holtby being out of position and a wide open goal for Travis Moen to score his 5th of the season. The excitement didn’t end there, as there was a controversial decision to disallow a Capitals goal. The Capitals did eventually take the lead after a nice play by Brooks Laich to beat Hal Gill to the outside and cut across the crease before potting his 16th of the season.

The Capitals began to push the play in the second period with a strong forecheck, which resulted in a shot advantage of 19-6. All of that pressure was fruitless as the Canadiens were the only team to score in the second after a nice rush by
P.K. Subban resulted in Andrei Kostitsyn continuing his hot steak.

The third period was much more even but it was the Capitals who managed to pull ahead after a nice rush by Alexander Ovechkin who set up Marcus Johansson for his second goal of the game. Washington then doubled their lead late in the third period
on the powerplay when Marco Sturm came out of the box to set up Mike Knuble to put the game out of reach.

This game was always going to be tough when facing the hottest team in the league and the Canadiens kept the game close, thanks mostly due to Carey Price, but in the end the better team won.

HW 3 Stars of the Night:

1st Star: Carey Price (37 saves, .902 SV%)

He once again gave his team a chance to win in a game that probably should have been out of reach after the second period. He continues to makes his case for the MVP of the league by making key saves throughout the game. If only he could also score…

2nd Star: Andrei Kostitsyn (1 goal, 2 shots, 15:52 TOI)

He continued his hot streak by getting a point in 8th out of the last 9 games. Ever since been paired with Lars Eller he has seemed engaged and has been capitalizing on his chances.

3rd Star: Lars Eller (1 assist, 1 shot, 16:11 TOI)

He has been playing much better lately at both ends of the ice ever since being allowed to play his natural position of centre. Being paired with Andrei Kostitsyn and a grinder (either Travis Moen or Ryan White) gives the line a good balance and hopefully Jacques Martin will allow the line to play together while they continue to produce.