Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals
· National Hockey LeagueCapitals rally with 2 in the third, then beat Montreal 3-2 on McMichael's goal in OT
Washington trailed 2-0 entering the third period before tying it on a pair of goals by Ethen Frank. After the Capitals failed to score on an overtime power play, Canadiens goalie Samuel Montembeault left a rebound on Dylan Strome's shot and McMichael was able to stuff it home.
Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal.
Washington won for just the sixth time in 17 games. The Capitals allowed a shorthanded goal in the first, and their power play was so bad in the second fans began booing. But it was Montreal that failed to score on a two-man advantage late in the second, and that left the score at 2-0 heading into the third.
Matt Roy’s shot from the right circle was deflected in by Frank with 14:54 to play. Then Frank scored on a redirect with 1:54 remaining after the Capitals had pulled their goalie.
Canadiens defenseman Jayden Struble was shaken up after a big hit by Washington's Dylan McIlrath in the second. Washington was without injured forward Tom Wilson for a fifth straight game.
With the Capitals on an early power play, Anderson skated out of his own zone with the puck on a 2-on-1 break and beat goalie Logan Thompson with a wrist shot for a shorthanded goal.
Gallagher was left with plenty of room near the slot and made it 2-0 in the second.
Capitals: Host San Jose on Thursday night.
Regular Season SeriesWSH leads series 2-0
Scoring Summary
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Goal | 1st Period 8:14 | Josh Anderson Goal (10) Snap Shot, assists: none |
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Goal | 2nd Period 7:40 | Brendan Gallagher Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Phillip Danault (9), Zachary Bolduc (8) |
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Goal | 3rd Period 5:06 | Ethen Frank Goal (9) Deflected, assists: Matt Roy (13), Rasmus Sandin (12) |
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Goal | 3rd Period 18:06 | Ethen Frank Goal (10) Tip-In, assists: Rasmus Sandin (13), Anthony Beauvillier (7) |
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Goal | 4th Period 4:21 | Connor McMichael Goal (7) Wrist Shot, assists: Dylan Strome (25), Rasmus Sandin (14) |
Statistics
MTL |
WSH |
|
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Blocked Shots | 15 |
| 21 | Hits | 18 |
| 2 | Takeaways | 5 |
| 26 | Shots | 42 |
| 0 | Power Play Goals | 0 |
| 4 | Power Play Opportunities | 5 |
| 0.0 | Power Play Percentage | 0.0 |
| 1 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
| 0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
| 32 | Faceoffs Won | 27 |
| 54.2 | Faceoff Win Percent | 45.8 |
| 10 | Giveaways | 16 |
| 7 | Total Penalties | 6 |
| 25 | Penalty Minutes | 23 |
Washington Capitals Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Jakob Chychrun, D | Out | Jan 13 |
| Eriks Mateiko, LW | Out | Jan 13 |
| Justin Sourdif, RW | Out | Jan 13 |
| Tom Wilson, RW | Injured Reserve | Jan 13 |
| Pierre-Luc Dubois, LW | Injured Reserve | Jan 3 |
Montreal Canadiens Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Patrik Laine, RW | Injured Reserve | Jan 10 |
| Jake Evans, C | Injured Reserve | Dec 27 |
Game Information
Capital One Arena
Location: Washington, DC
Attendance: 18,347 | Capacity:
Location: Washington, DC
Attendance: 18,347 | Capacity:
2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tampa Bay |
29 | 13 | 61 | 3 |
Detroit |
28 | 16 | 60 | 4 |
Montreal |
26 | 14 | 59 | 7 |
Boston |
26 | 19 | 54 | 2 |
Toronto |
23 | 16 | 53 | 7 |
Buffalo |
24 | 16 | 52 | 4 |
Florida |
24 | 18 | 51 | 3 |
Ottawa |
21 | 19 | 47 | 5 |
2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Carolina |
28 | 15 | 60 | 4 |
NY Islanders |
25 | 16 | 55 | 5 |
Washington |
24 | 17 | 54 | 6 |
Philadelphia |
22 | 14 | 52 | 8 |
Pittsburgh |
21 | 14 | 52 | 10 |
New Jersey |
23 | 21 | 48 | 2 |
Columbus |
20 | 19 | 47 | 7 |
NY Rangers |
20 | 21 | 46 | 6 |




MTL
WSH
Tampa Bay
Detroit
Montreal
Boston
Toronto
Buffalo
Florida
Ottawa
Carolina
NY Islanders
Washington
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
New Jersey
Columbus
NY Rangers