Capitals eliminate Canadiens

And here’s the Capitals’ lineup.

After a storm of shots from the Canadiens in the first half of the first period, the Capitals took their chance to score.

Alexander Ovechkin pounced on the puck as soon as the puck dropped in CH territory before unleashing a good shot that got the better of Jakub Dobes.

Only a few minutes later, it was Jacob Chychrun’s turn to strike. The Capitals defenseman scored his second goal of the series when Dobes was offside.

The Capitals may have struck twice in the first period, but Dobes stayed in his game with some good saves, like this one on a cross-ice pass.

The Tricolore goalie also beat Connor McMichael on a breakaway.

After 20 minutes of play, the Capitals were leading 2-0.

The Canadiens’ goal was to generate some offense in the second period. However, they were limited to just six shots. That was three less than their first-period total.

Tom Wilson, meanwhile, was still at work shaking up the Canadiens’ players. This time, he went after Nick Suzuki, pushing him onto Jakub Dobes’ post.

Suzuki managed to get up on his own, however, and stayed in the match.

Kaiden Guhle had a great chance to score on a three-on-one, but Logan Thompson closed the door on the Canadiens defender’s on-side shot.

There was even a lesson in diving from Ryan Leonard. Leonard tried to cut towards Dobes’ net and fell as he dove.

Normally a well-used player during CH games, Jake Evans was benched for five minutes midway through the second period. But as soon as he returned to the ice, he was sent off for two minutes.

Tom Wilson took advantage of the power play to score the Capitals’ third goal.

After two periods, the Canadiens were trailing 3-0.

All the Canadiens needed in the third period was a goal.

Emil Heineman understood the mission, putting the Canadiens on the scoreboard. It was his first goal since January 3, and his first in the playoffs.

Heineman’s goal seemed to give the Canadiens players wings. Montreal surpassed the 10-shot mark even before the middle of the third period.

The only problem was that Logan Thompson remained solid.

To remedy this problem, Martin St-Louis shuffled his trios. Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield played with Jake Evans for a while, while Nick Suzuki was able to play alongside Ivan Demidov.

Montreal pulled their goalie with just over three minutes left in the third period. The Canadiens swarmed into Capitals territory for long seconds, but Thompson got the better of Suzuki with his mitt.

Despite the Habs’ best efforts, the Capitals managed to score into an empty net in the final minute of play.

In the end, the Capitals won 4-1.

Washington needed just five games to overcome the Canadiens, who are now officially eliminated.

David Savard will have played his last NHL game, having announced his retirement.

Montreal can nonetheless be satisfied with its season. We wanted to be in the mix, and we were even more than that.

Extension

– We love it!

– We can’t get too down on Dobes.

– Wow.

– He had a good game.

– Just what Montreal needed.

– This is what this team does best.

– He gave it his all.