Excerpt from 'Rocket Hockey Report' of host Amy Johnson commenting on the Laval Rocket's upcoming series against the Toronto Marlies. GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens 5 vs Washington Capitals 2 | FINAL The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Washington Capitals 5-2 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA0MTY5NjEwNDM2NjE4MTI1/canadiens-final-score-18.png] The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Washington Capitals 5-2 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. CANADIENS LINEUP Forwards 22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky 70 Tanner Pearson - 71 Jake Evans - 56 Jesse Ylonen 40 Joel Armia - 74 Brandon Gignac - 17 Josh Anderson 55 Michael Pezzetta - 82 Lucas Condotta- 49 Rafael Harvey-Pinard Defensemen 8 Mike Matheson - 21 Kaiden Guhle 47 Jayden Struble - 58 David Savard 72 Arber Xhekaj - 26 Johnathan Kovacevic Goaltenders Starter: 35 Sam Montembeault Alternate: 30 Cayden Primeau Out of the lineup Scratches: Jordan Harris, Jake Allen Suspension: Brendan Gallagher Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), Alex Newhook (lower body), Christian Dvorak (upper body) WATCH ALONG LIVESTREAM (REPLAY) [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvHD2PeBWYc[/embed] GAME REPORT The Montreal Canadiens took advantage of a Capitals defense in disarray building a 3-0 lead in the first period. It turned out to be the difference in the game. Nick Suzuki scored twice in under a minute and Michael Pezzetta added another giving the visitors a three goal lead after 20 minutes. In the second period, the Capitals offense turned up the heat on the Habs. Shot attempts were 36-7 (all strengths) in the second period for Washington but the Canadiens' shot blockers were equal to the task. David Savard made the save of the game blocking a blast from Max Pacioretty with Sam Montembeault out of position. Alex Ovechkin picked up the Capitals only goal of the middle frame despite the home team dominating the sheet. In the third period, it was Juraj Slafkovsky adding a little extra insurance with the first multi-goal game of his NHL career. Playing just the second NHL game of his career, Brandon Gignac looked somewhat outmatched. His minutes were doled out sparingly until the third period when the game was well in hand. It was a strong game for the Canadiens top line notching six points. With an assist, Cole Caufield extended his point streak to ten games, a career high. GAME STATISTICS Canadiens (21-21-8) Shots: 26 Face-off %: 50.8 Power play: 1/2 Penalty minutes: 8 Hits: 12 Blocks:20 Capitals (22-19-7) Shots: 39 Face-off %: 49.2 Power play: 0/3 Penalty minutes: 6 Hits: 18 Blocks: 6 SCORING SUMMARY Canadiens Scorers 1st period: Suzuki (14), Suzuki (15), Pezzetta (3) 2nd period: -- 3rd period: Slafkovsky (8), Slafkovsky (9)-PPG OT: -- SO: -- Capitals Scorers 1st period: -- 2nd period: Ovechkin (10) 3rd period: Sandin (2) OT: SO: -- Goaltenders MTL: Montembeault (W) 12-7-4 WSH: Lindgren (L) 9-7-4, Kuemper CANADIENS PLAYERS OF THE GAME Nick Suzuki - In addition to scoring two goals, Suzuki assisted on a power play goal by Juraj Slafkovsky for a three-point game. Juraj Slafkovsky - Despite taking a bad penalty in the first period, Slafkovsky looked more comfortable on the first line as the game went on. He scored twice in the third period. VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cbf4wPDDpE[/embed] POST-GAME QUOTES Nick Suzuki on Juraj Slafkovsky returning to the top line "We love playing together, we have a lot of fun out there on the ice together. We haven't played together for two-and-a-half weeks so we're just getting back (to be) more comfortable." UP NEXT The Canadiens return home to host the Dallas Stars at the Bell Centre on Saturday afternoon and the St. Louis Blues on Sunday afternoon following the tradition of matinee games on Super Bowl weekend. Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal [https://thn.com/montreal] for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world. Gretzky Signature Series. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNzAzMjM2NzQxMTEzNjIw/gretzky-northland.jpg] Gretzky Signature Series.
