NHL: Habs lost 9-2 to Capitals

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The Montreal Canadiens finished 2022 with a 9-2 humiliation at the hands of Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

“Ovi” scored his 30th career hat-trick in the crushing victory for Caps.

This is the first time since 4 November 2016 that CH has conceded 9 goals in a match. That was during a 10-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

For the third time in a row, the Canadian allowed the first goal in the first three minutes of play, and things did not improve after that.

The Hab suffered its fifth straight loss (0-4-1). He was outscored 8-26 in goals scored during that series.

“The second half was one of our best in a long time, but we lost it. It’s tough on confidence,” admitted Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis, commenting on his recovery efforts.

“It’s not easy to come back to third place against a team of this calibre,” he added. We are a fragile team and we don’t have a lot of confidence at the moment. It’s a series that a lot of teams go through. It is up to us to try to slow it down and restart it. »

Cole Cofield ended a four-game drought, his longest of the season, by scoring his 20th and 21st goals of the season for the Canadiens (15-19-3), who have only one win in their last nine games (1-7). -1). Jake Allen stopped 31 shots.

“If it hadn’t been for the moms’ trip, I might have made a different decision,” St. Louis admitted. Then, eight or nine goals later, it was too late. I’ll talk about it with Jake. »

“Maybe I could have done better. I’m learning.”

Dylan Strom, Nick Dodd, Marcus Johansson and Anthony Mantha also scored for D.C. (21-13-5), who had at least one point in their seventh straight game (6-0-1). Charlie Lindgren made 31 saves.

The Canadian was without defender Cayden Joule, injured his lower body on Thursday against the Florida Panthers. Striker Yevgeny Dadonov was also left out. They were replaced in the Habs roster by Chris Weidman and Michael Pezzetta.

Striker Brendan Gallagher left the game early in the first half, apparently with a leg injury. However, he returned to action midway through the second period.

The Canadians will cap off their trip over the holiday with a visit to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

lowered again

Gustafsson scored 32 seconds into the game, after a spin by Josh Anderson outside the area.

“We talked about the importance of the first 10 minutes of the game, then I stick to a turnover after 30 seconds and they score. It gave them a rhythm and they took their chances.”

The Canadiens conceded another goal at 4:32, when Hathaway blocked Nick Dodd’s shot at the goal.

Quietly, the Habs players are starting to recover from the shock of a poor start. Nick Suzuki knocked on the door, but Lindgren countered it with his glove.

Lindgren also pointed himself twice against Kirby Dash before halftime.

The Canadian got the score with 4:02 of play in the second period, during a four-on-three power play. Cofield scored in one timing after a cross from Suzuki.

But the Capitals stunned the Canadian with two goals in a 35-second stretch midway through the second period.

Dowd capitalized coming back at 8:31, and then Ovechkin stormed back as the teams went four-for-four.

Once again, Cofield tried to revive the Canadian. He beat Lindgren between the legs with 7:21 to go, after forcing a spin in the no-man’s land.

The Capitals took advantage of a power play late in the second period, then another early in the third to add two goals. Strom moved the ropes with 39 seconds left in the second period, then Ovechkin beat Allen with a solid one-timer 1:22 into the third period.

Johansson and Mantha added the Capitals nets, which continued the Habs lesson in the third period. Ovechkin finally completed the 30th hat trick of his career by scoring his 806th NHL goal with 3:25 left on the clock.

“It’s a serious, tough league and as much as you always want to get your hands dirty, sometimes it feels good to fold. That’s what we’re going to do for the next few days,” St. Louis said, as the players can have fun in Nashville with their mom.