Another tough game for Habs goalies

The visitors, who had played the previous day at home against the Oilers, quickly opened the scoring with only a minute left on the clock through Alex Ovechkin, who took advantage of the powerplay to score his eighth of the season, his 905th career goal.

It was also on the power play that the Habs tied the score before the end of the first frame when Brendan Gallagher scored his first goal of the season on a play that required a video replay. Noah Dobson and Ivan Demidov picked up assists on the play.

1-1 after 20 minutes of play.

Again with the man advantage, the Caps regained the lead in the second period with a goal from Ethen Frank, his first of the season, on a shot Samuel Montembeault would surely love to see again.

Then it was Frank’s turn to score his second just 1:38 minutes later on what sounded the end of Monty’s night’s work, as he had to make way for Jakub Dobes.

The goaltender change seemed to whip the Habs into shape when Joe Veleno also scored his first goal of the campaign with the help of Mike Matheson and Gallagher.

Unfortunately, Jakob Chychrun gave the visitors back a two-goal lead by thwarting Dobes, who already looked better, on a pass from John Carlson.

However, less than 30 seconds later, Nick Suzuki took the opportunity to score his fifth goal of the campaign. Alex Carrier and Zachary Bolduc had assists on the captain’s net.

Then, the Capitals scored the sixth goal of the period thanks to Sonny Milano’s second of the season with the help of Frank, his third point of the game, and Rasmus Sandin.

5-3 Capitals after two periods.

It was Matheson who revived the Habs’ prospects in the third, thwarting Charlie Lindgren to cut the deficit to a single net.

Unfortunately, despite the team’s best efforts and several good chances, the Habs couldn’t match the mark.
Instead, it was Ovechkin who nailed the home side’s coffin with his second goal of the game, his third point.

Then, number 8 completed his hat trick in an empty net.

And finally, to add insult to injury, Sonny Milano scored an eighth goal for the Caps, a fourth allowed by Dobes.

Final score: 8-4 defeat.

While Montreal didn’t play a bad game, the goalies had another tough night, failing to make key saves and giving their team no chance of winning the game.

The Canadian’s next game is on Saturday at 7pm, when the Maple Leafs visit the Bell Centre.

Extension

The Habs continue to be bogged down with just one win in eight games, and they continue to have problems in front of the net. Meanwhile, Jacob Fowler is performing well in Laval, and perhaps the young goalie might be ready to make the jump and get some NHL starts.

Yes, it might be a bit quick to recall Fowler, but right now the Habs really need a jolt. And if the experiment isn’t a success, we can always send Fowler back to the Rocket to develop.