In Washington, DC, the Montreal Canadiens took a 1-0 lead in the second period off a goal from Nick Suzuki. That was the brightest part of the Habs’ day as the Capitals scored three straight goals in the second period to take a 3-1 win, their first of the season.
“We’ve been competitive in every game this year,” Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher said. “But you want to be on the right side of it. There’s little critical moments throughout the game which are the reasons why we lost the last two and why we won the first game and we’re still learning all that.”
Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves for the Caps win..
“I think you could see [the urgency] from the puck drop,” Kuemper said. “Obviously, losing the first two is not what we were all hoping for, so I think you saw a little bit of digging in and making sure we got this one.”
Conor Sheary and Anthony Mantha scored to give the Caps a 2-1 lad in the frame.
“I just kind of got lost in their D-zone coverage,” Sheary said. “‘Jens’ kind of wheeled the whole zone and they had a couple of guys that were eying the puck and I just snuck backdoor, and I was able to have a strong stick and Jens made a great play.”
T.J. Oshie capped the outburst with a goal for the 3-1 final.
“I think we were moving the puck around better, a little crisper, little more direct,” Oshie said of the power play. “Pretty lucky positioning on my goal. Had to go switch out sticks mid-play there and walked right into a puck sitting there for me.”
Sam Montembeault made 26 saves in the Habs loss.
“They kind of took it to us in the second, where I thought we had a good start in the first and obviously a good third period,” said Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin, who played 15:16 in his season debut. “It kind of stings that way but they’re a team with experience and a lot of chemistry and they’re going to find ways to get goals.”
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