Joel Armia and Alex Newhook picked up points but the Montreal Canadiens fell short against the Washington Capitals.
GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens 3 vs Washington Capitals 4 | FINAL
Washington Capitals defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3.Canadiens Lineup
Forwards
22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
70 Tanner Pearson - 71 Jake Evans - 17 Josh Anderson
89 Joshua Roy - 15 Alex Newhook - 40 Joel Armia
55 Michael Pezzetta - 74 Brandon Gignac - 11 Brendan Gallagher
Defensemen
8 Mike Matheson - 21 Kaiden Guhle
47 Jayden Struble - 58 David Savard
72 Arber Xhekaj - 26 Johnathan Kovacevic
Goaltenders
Starter: 34 Jake Allen
Alternate: 30 Cayden Primeau
Out of the lineup
Scratches: Jesse Ylonen Sam Montembeault
Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), Christian Dvorak (upper body), Rafael Harvey-Pinard (lower body), Jordan Harris (upper body)
Game Report
The Canadiens came up short in a game that was a back and forth affair. Nick Suzuki scored his 20th goal of the season marking ten games with a point. With an assist on Suzuki's goal, Juraj Slafkovsky extended his point streak to eight games.
Montreal received secondary scoring from Alex Newhook and Arber Xhekaj with Joel Armia recording two assists. Xhekaj's bomb from the point was measured by Sportsnet at 102.2 miles per hour.
Jake Allen made 30 saves and recorded 1.24 goals saved above expected. The veteran goaltender kept the game close with several outstanding saves. High danger scoring chances were a whopping 24-13 for Washington (Natural Stat Trick, all situations.)
Trailing by a goal, the Canadiens had an opportunity to tie the game when Tom Wilson was assessed a penalty for high-sticking with just 1:27 left. Montreal was let down by their power play despite having a 6-on-4 advantage with Allen on the bench.
The Canadiens were gifted a power play as John Carlson was tagged for slashing Brendan Gallagher, a call that was generous to Montreal. In addition, Kaiden Guhle escaped an early penalty after his high-stick on Dylan Strome was ruled as friendly fire. It was another ruling that the officials got wrong that benefited the home team.
Game Statistics
Canadiens (22-25-8)
Shots: 31
Face-off %: 57.6
Power play: 1/3
Penalty minutes: 2
Hits: 19
Blocks: 26
Capitals (24-21-8)
Shots: 34
Face-off %: 42.4
Power play: 1/1
Penalty minutes: 6
Hits: 12
Blocks: 16
Scoring Summary
Canadiens Scorers
1st period: Xhekaj (2)
2nd period: Newhook (8)
3rd period: Suzuki (20)-PPG
OT: --
SO: --
Capitals Scorers
1st period: Mantha (17), Oshie (10)-PPG
2nd period: --
3rd period: Milano (5), Protas (4)
OT: --
SO: --
Goaltenders
MTL: Jake Allen (L) 5-11-3
WSH: Darcy Kuemper (W) 12-12-3
Canadiens Players of the Game
Joel Armia - Armia recorded two assists in just over 15 minutes of ice time.
Alex Newhook - Newhook scored his eighth goal of the season and was 67 percent at the faceoff dot. It was Newhook's fifth game since his return.
Video Highlights
Post-game Quotes
Martin St. Louis
"[Juraj Slafkovsky] is hungry. He had three good shots and (John) Carlson was there for the third. I am not surprised that he is emotional after the game, he wants to make the difference."
Juraj Slafkovsky
"These shots have to end up in the net."
Arber Xhekaj
"That’s probably the most powerful shot I’ve fired in my life!"
Up Next
The Canadiens will host the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night and then head to Pittsburgh for a date with the Penguins on Thursday.
Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world.
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