Ovechkin records trio of assists as Capitals double up on Canadiens
Washington captain turns distributor, raising season assist tally to 18
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his seventh goal and added an assist, Alex Ovechkin had three assists in a game for the first time in nearly four years, and the Washington Capitals cruised to a 6-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.
Dmitry Orlov, John Carlson and Nic Dowd also had a goal and an assist each as Washington won its seventh out of nine in its return from a four-game West Coast trip.
"Coming off the road trip ... I thought the game was good and the first period was excellent," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said.
Ilya Samsonov made 25 saves while winning his seventh game in eight starts, despite seeing his shutout streak snapped at 170 minutes, 13 seconds.
Artturi Lehkonen and Jake Evans each had a goal and an assist for Montreal, which lost its fifth game out of six failed in its bid for its first back-to-back wins of the season.
WATCH | Kuznetsov, Ovechkin power Capitals to big win over Canadiens:
It took Washington 15 minutes to open a three-goal lead.
Dowd opened the scoring on a wraparound follow-up of his own rebound.
Carlson made it 2-0 when his one-timer from the point sailed past a screened Allen and off the underside of the crossbar.
Then Montreal helped Washington's cause when Sgarbossa deflected Cedric Paquette's clearance attempt toward Allen's goal and Alexander Romanov mistakenly kicked it into his own net.
Ovechkin's pass across the crease to Wilson made it 5-2 in the third, and Orlov made it 6-2 before Lehkonen scored late.
"I think it's all about the situation," Ovechkin said of his three-assist night. "I'll take it."
