GOALTENDERS: Jaroslav Halak, Carey Price.
DEFENSEMEN: Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Hal Gill, Roman Hamrlik, Jaroslav Spacek.
FIRST LINE: Michael Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn.
SECOND LINE: Benoit Pouliot, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta.
THIRD LINE: Travis Moen, Dominic Moore, Maxime Lapierre.
FOURTH LINE: Mathieu Darche, Glen Metropolit, Tom Pyatt.
PLAYER NOTES:
–RW Andrei Kostitsyn has had problems with consistency and they have continued in the playoffs. He scored three goals in Game 2 but Monday he managed only one shot on goal and was a minus-4.
–C Glen Metropolit, who had been out of the lineup since March 31 with a separated shoulder, returned to action but was a non-factor. He played only 5:37 and saw only one shift on the power play despite the fact he’s the team’s leading scorer on the power play with 10 goals.
–G Jaroslav Halak made his third consecutive playoff but was yanked at 8:33 of the second period after giving up three goals on 13 shots. Coach Jacques Martin said he pulled Halak to change the momentum but he gave up six goals in a 6-5 overtime loss in Game 2 and may have opened the door for backup Carey Price.
MEDICAL WATCH:
–C Glen Metropolit left in the first period of the March 27 game against New Jersey with a separated shoulder. He was expected to miss two months but he returned to the lineup for Game 3 of the Washington series. The Canadiens are hoping that his return will give them a right-handed shot on the power play. He led the Canadiens during the regular season with 10 power-play goals.
–One of the bright spots for the Canadiens has been their penalty-killing. The Capitals had the best power-play in the NHL in the regular season but they were 0-for-7 Monday and are 0-for-14 for the series.
–The Washington victory gives the home-ice advantage back to the Capitals, who lead the best-of-seven series, 2-1. Game 4 is set for Wednesday in Montreal and the series goes back to Washington on Friday.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I thought the first period was our best of the series.” — Coach Jacques Martin, whose team outshot the Capitals 10-7 but failed to beat goaltender Semyon Varlamov.
The Canadiens are back to square one when it comes to choosing a goaltender for Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Washington Capitals.
Jaroslav Halak came into the playoffs as the solid No. 1 but he gave up six goals in a Game 2 loss and was pulled from Game 3 after falling behind 3-0 midway through the second period.
Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said he didn’t fault Halak for the 5-1 defeat in Game 3 which left the Canadiens trailing 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. He said he made the switch in an attempt to change the momentum but he had to be happy with the way Carey Price responded after coming in cold off the bench. Price stopped 21 of 23 shots and looked strong.
Martin’s other concern will be to channel some of his team’s energy and frustration. In Games 2 and 3, the Canadiens took a series of unnecessary penalties. While the Capitals have yet to score a power-play goal in the series, the penalties have robbed Montreal of some momentum.
CAPITALS 5, CANADIENS 1: The Capitals survived a rocky first period to take a 4-0 lead with four goals in a 12:45 span in the second period. The momentum switched when Boyd Gordon scored a shorthanded goal at 1:06 of the third period. Alex Ovechkin scored on his only shot on goal but the other four Washington goals were scored by players on the third and fourth lines.
MONTREAL – The Washington Capitals did exactly what they came to
the boisterous Bell Centre to do: silence the crowd, rattle goalie
Jaroslav Halak and come away with a win.
Boyd Gordon jumped on a mistake by Montreal defenceman Jaroslav
Spacek to score a short-handed goal and spark a four-goal second
period as the Capitals skated to a 5-1 victory over the
Canadiens on Monday night.
Washington holds a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven NHL Eastern
Conference quarter-final heading into Game 4 on Wednesday
night.
MONTREAL – Marc-Andre Bergeron says his thundering shot has
always been there and he has no idea where it comes from.
But it moved the
Montreal
Canadiens to sign him to a
US$750,000, one-year contract as a free agent when two of their
rearguards, Andrei Markov and Ryan O’Byrne, were injured in the
first week of the NHL regular season.
And now he is putting it to work in the playoffs as the
eighth-seeded
Canadiens try to upset the first
place overall Washington Capitals in the opening round.
GOALTENDERS: Jaroslav Halak, Carey Price.
DEFENSEMEN: Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Hal Gill, Roman Hamrlik, Jaroslav Spacek.
FIRST LINE: Michael Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn.
SECOND LINE: Benoit Pouliot, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta.
THIRD LINE Travis Moen, Dominic Moore, Sergei Kostitsyn.
FOURTH LINE: Mathieu Darche, Maxim Lapierre, Tom Pyatt.
PLAYER NOTES
–LW Andrei Kostitsyn picked the right time to score the first hat trick of his NHL career. Kostitsyn had been struggling with only three goals in the new year, but he showed his individual skills when he picked up a loose puck and beat Jose Theodore on a breakaway. His other two goals were scored by establishing position around the crease.
–G Jaroslav Halak looked shaky on the last two goals and was beaten six times on 37 shots. Coach Jacques Martin said he thought the team’s goaltending was solid but wouldn’t commit to starting Halak in Game 3.
–LW Michael Cammalleri had problems with his timing after he returned from an ankle injury, but he seems to be back on track. He has a goal and two assists in the first two games of the series. The line of Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn accounted for four of the Canadiens’ five goals.
MEDICAL WATCH:
–C Glen Metropolit left in the first period of the March 27 game against New Jersey with a separated shoulder. He was expected to miss two months but has resumed practicing with the team. The Canadiens are hoping that he will return in this series and give them a right-handed shot on the power play. He led the Canadiens during the regular season with 10 power-play goals.
–The Capitals had the No. 1 power play in the NHL in the regular season but went 0-for-1 Saturday night and are 0-for-4 in the series. The Canadiens, who were No. 2 in the regular season, have a power-play goal in each game.
–The Canadiens scored on their first two shots against former Montreal goaltender Jose Theodore, prompting Washington coach Bruce Boudreau to replace him with Semyon Varlamov.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We came here for one (victory). We got our one. Now it’s time to go home and play. I liked our team. We did a lot of good things.” — Canadiens LW Michael Cammalleri after being asked whether the Canadiens were disappointed with the loss.
