T.J. Oshie had a goal and assist and the Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Saturday night to avoid their first 0-3-0 start since the 2012-13 lockout season.
Conor Sheary and Anthony Mantha also scored for the Capitals.
Down 1-0 after Nick Suzuki’s goal, the Capitals got a much-needed spark on special teams that led to three goals in the second period.
After failing to convert on its first nine power-play opportunities of the season, the Capitals made some adjustments to the top power-play unit, placing Dylan Strome on the half wall and replacing Evgeny Kuznetsov with Marcus Johansson. That group finally broke through when Oshie got to the front and buried a rebound off Alex Ovechkin’s shot to make it 3-1.
Addition to his goal and a team-leading five shots, Oshie assisted on Anthony Mantha’s goal that went in off of Sam Montembeault. The 35-year-old Oshie, who had core surgery before the season and was dealing with an upper-body injury in the pre-season, has three points in three games.
WATCH | Oshie leads Capitals past Habs:
It did appear that Ovechkin had his first goal of the season after tapping in Erik Gustafsson’s point shot, but it was overturned after a coach’s challenge for offside. Ovechkin finished the night with five shots on goal and hit the post on an empty-net attempt, but was again held off the scoresheet. This is the first time since the 2012-13 lockout year that Ovechkin has gone three straight games without a goal to open a season.
Both teams are back in action Monday night as the Canadiens host Pittsburgh and the Capitals host former coach Bruce Boudreau and the Vancouver Canucks.
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