Caps surrender 2 short-handed goals in lopsided loss to Habs originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Playing down a forward, the Capitals jumped out to an early lead in Thursday’s game against the Canadiens before a pair of short-handed goals fueled a 6-2 final in favor of Montreal.
Washington dressed just 17 skaters for the contest after announcing Anthony Mantha would be a late scratch with a lower-body injury. T.J. Oshie (upper body) and Trevor van Riemsdyk (upper body) didn’t travel with the team, which, coupled with Mantha’s absence, would allow the Capitals to recall an additional player from AHL Hershey on Saturday under the salary cap roster emergency rule if they chose.
But that left the Capitals short-handed in Montreal, where trouble on the power play led to an unraveling of a once-promising start. The Capitals held a 1-0 lead after the first period behind Dylan Strome’s 20th goal of the season. Strome, whose 59 points this year represent a new career high, carried the puck into the offensive zone before finding some space for a wrister.
After Tom Wilson was forced to sit out 17 minutes of game time for instigating a fight with Montreal center Michael Pezzetta, the Canadiens regrouped during the intermission and came out hot in the second. The Capitals allowed two short-handed goals on consecutive possessions, marking the first time they had surrendered multiple short-handed goals in a game since Nov. 21, 2011, against the then-Phoenix Coyotes.
Montreal didn’t stop there, scoring two more goals in five-on-five play to complete a four-goal frame. The Canadiens had been shut out over their previous 145 minutes of play dating back to their March 30 game against the Florida Panthers, but the Atlantic Division’s last-place team dominated time of possession and finished with a 30-26 in shots on goal.
Right wing Joel Armia was the catalyst behind their offensive explosion with a hat trick he cemented by scoring an empty-netter in the final four minutes. Forward Mike Hoffman then put an exclamation point on the win by scoring with 18 seconds left.
Washington did get one goal back with goaltender Darcy Kuemper pulled. Head coach Peter Laviolette made the call with six minutes left to set up a six-on-four power play where Strome hit Nicklas Backstrom with a feed down low for the score.
The Capitals, who were officially eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday, have lost five straight games with a 7-15-3 overall record since the All-Star Break. They’ll take the day off Friday before hosting the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
