his second goal of the game in overtime and the Montreal Canadiens
ended Washington's team-record winning streak at 14 games with a 6-5
victory over the Capitals on Wednesday night.
Washington, which hadn't lost in
nearly a month, fell three wins short of tying the 1992-93 Pittsburgh
Penguins' NHL-record streak of 17 games.
Brooks Laich tied it at 5 for
Washington, scoring his third goal of the game with 18.4 seconds left
and goalie Jose Theodore pulled for an extra attacker.
Trailing 5-2 after Plekanec scored
Montreal's fourth goal of the second with 1:04 left in the period,
Washington battled back with three goals in the third — including two
by Laich — to send the game to overtime.
Laich, who scored 6:23 into the first
to tie it at 1, scored his second of the game midway through the third
to draw the Capitals to 5-4 after Mike Green scored a power play goal
16 seconds into the third.
Glen Metropolit and Maxim Lapierre
scored goals 12 seconds apart in the second for Montreal. Tom Pyatt
also scored in the middle period for the Canadiens, and Scott Gomez
scored in the first. Sergei Kostitsyn had three assists.
Carey Price made 33 saves in his
first start in six game for Montreal, which played its first game since
general manager Bob Gainey's surprise resignation Monday.
Nicklas Backstrom and Green also
scored for Washington, which fell one win short in its bid to tie the
1981-82 New York Islanders' 15-game streak, the second-longest in
league history.
The Capitals, who hadn't lost since
dropping a 7-4 decision at Tampa Bay on Jan. 12, tied the 1929-30
Boston Bruins for the third-longest winning streak Sunday as Alexander
Ovechkin recorded his first hat trick of the season in a 5-4 overtime
win over Pittsburgh.
Ovechkin extended his points streak
to eight games with an assist on Backstrom's 26th goal, which tied it
at 2 early in the second. He added his second assist on Laich's hat-trick goal.
Washington's Michal Neuvirth stopped
12 of 14 shots before he was replaced by Jose Theodore 6:11 into the
second with the score tied at 2. Theodore, who allowed three of
Montreal's four second-period goals, made 21 saves the rest of the way.
Metropolit got his 12th goal of the
season on a power play 12:45 into the second to give the Canadiens
their third one-goal lead at 3-2.
Lapierre beat Theodore with a shot from the slot shortly after the ensuing faceoff to put Montreal up 4-2 at 12:57.
Ovechkin had a goal waved off 14:10
into the second. Ovechkin crashed the crease and knocked Montreal
defenseman Hal Gill into Price as the puck slid into the net after the
Montreal goalie made a huge glove save on Mike Knuble's shot.
Initially ruled a goal, the on-ice
officials huddled in front the timekeeper's bench before reversing
their decision, waving off the goal.
Plekanec increased the Canadiens' lead to 5-2 when he scored his 16th goal with 1:04 remaining in the second.
Green drew Washington to 5-3 with a
power-play goal 16 seconds into the third, beating Price with a wrist
shot from the point 3 seconds after Plekanec was sent off for slashing.
Laich, who scored 6:23 into the first to tie it at 1, got his second of the game — his 19th goal — at 9:02.
Canadiens defenseman Josh Gorges was
struck on the left side of his head by Green's slap shot with 10.9
seconds left in the first.
Gorges lay face down on the ice for
several moments before he was able to sit up and make his way to the
dressing room with the help of athletic therapist Graham Rynbend. He
did not return.
Notes
Ovechkin has 18 points over
the course of his streak, including nine goals and nine assists. …
Canadiens center David Desharnais recorded his first NHL point with an
assist on Metropolit's goal, which required a brief video review. …
Pyatt, who assisted on Gomez's goal 36 seconds in, scored 41 seconds
into the second for his first career goal.