MONTREAL — Ryan Poehling and Jeff Petry had mutli-point nights, but it wasn’t enough to give the Habs a win over the surging Capitals on Saturday night, dropping a 8-4 result to Washington on the second night of a back-to-back homestand.
The Canadiens kicked things off by raising money and awareness for a good cause, hitting the ice for warmups in special jerseys adorned with the Progress Pride Flag and with their sticks wrapped in Pride Tape. The jerseys and sticks are being auctioned off to support GRIS Montreal and You Can Play as part of the initiatives surrounding the team’s LGBTQ+ night presented by Scotiabank.
BID NOW: Pride jerseys and sticks
Nic Dowd spoiled Samuel Montembeault’s shutout bid early in the first period, deflecting a Dmitry Orlov shot past the Habs netminder to open the scoring.
Rem Pitlick appeared to have evened things up a few minutes later, but it was determined that the puck crossed the goal line as a result of a distinct kicking motion. The Caps skated off into the first intermission up 1-0.
Jake Evans got the Habs on the board just under two minutes into the second period, take a nifty behind-the-back pass from Christian Dvork and rifling it past Vitek Vanecek for his 11th of the campaign.
Then, for a 48 second span in the middle frame, things got wild at the Bell Centre, as Anthony Mantha scored a pair of goals 34 seconds apart before Ryan Poehling helped bring the Habs back within one just 14 seconds later off a slick pass through the crease from Jeff Petry.
Alexander Ovechkin found the back of the net for a 47th time this season a few minutes later, giving the Capitals another two-goal heading into the third.
The scoring continued into the intermission as Habs fan Billy Gagnon found the back of the net from center ice during the Essor Lucky Shots contest as part of the team’s FANatic Saturday programming, earning himself a pair of season tickets for 2022-23.
SHOP: Pride collection
The sticks stayed hot in the third, as Poehling potted his second of the night to make it a 4-3 game, only to have Garnet Hathaway give the Caps another two-goal cushion less than a minute later. Dmitry Orlov then fired a wrister past a screened Montembeault just a few minutes later. Justin Shultz made it a 7-3 game midway through the final frame.
Nick Suzuki wired a shot past Vanacek late in the third to get his 20th of the campaign, but it wasn’t enough to mount a Habs comeback. T.J. Oshie deflected a shot past Montembeault to cement an 8-4 Washington win.
The Canadiens will be back in action at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night against the Minnesota Wild.