Brandon Duhaime scores 2 as the Capitals beat the Canadiens 5-2 to take a 3-1 series lead
MONTREAL (AP) — Andrew Mangiapane scored the go-ahead goal with just under four minutes remaining, Brandon Duhaime had two goals and Logan Thompson made 16 saves to lead the Washington Capitals to a 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday night for a 3-1 lead in the first-round series.
The teams head back to Washington, where the Capitals won the first two games, for Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Dylan Strome had a goal and assist and Tom Wilson also scored for the Capitals.
Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield scored for Montreal. Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson each had two assists. Jakub Dobes made 21 saves.
Mangiapane picked up a drop pass at the blue line and beat Dobes on the glove side as Washington rallied from a 2-1 deficit entering the third period.
Thompson returned to the lineup and had a strong game after exiting with an injury late in Game 3. Teammate Dylan Strome crashed into his goaltender on Montreal’s fifth goal Friday, and Thompson needed to be helped off the ice.
Dobes was making his first career playoff start. The 23-year-old from Czechia replaced injured starter Sam Montembeault midway through the second period in Game 2. Montembeault is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
The Canadiens defeated the Capitals 6-3 in a chaotic Game 3 — the first playoff game at the sold out Bell Centre since 2017 — in a matchup that included a bench brawl and both starting goalies sustaining injuries.
Duhaime tied the game 2-all at 6:39 of the third period after a couple fortunate bounces on his shot at the side of the net. The goal followed a massive hit by Wilson on defenseman Alexandre Carrier, who later left the game.
Montreal won the special teams battle, going 2 for 4 on the power play and killing off five penalties — including a 44-second 5-on-3 in the second period. Dobes stretched out for a spectacular blocker save on John Carlson to help kill the two-man advantage.
Slafkovsky tied the game on the power play at 10:33 of the second, finishing a feed from Demidov and a secondary assist from Hutson.
Caufield made it 2-1 at 18:32 with another power-play goal, beating Thompson on a one-timer.
After a sloppy first period, Strome capitalized on a couple of Canadiens mistakes and opened the scoring 1:25 into the second.
Hutson turned the puck over to Anthony Beauvillier, leading to a partial break. Then Dobes misplayed it, hesitating to freeze the puck and letting it bounce off his pad. Strome was there to bury it with a backhand.
The Canadiens recalled netminder Cayden Primeau from Laval of the AHL to serve as Dobes’ backup.
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