Montreal 2, Caps 1
Kind of a disjointed period. Caps defenseman Tom Poti played just a few shifts and left with an injury. He is not expected to return. Will have more after the game. So Bruce Boudreau was shifting his lines all over the place. Matt Bradley took the elevator from the fourth line to the first. Tomas Fleischmann dropped to third with Mathieu Perreault and Eric Fehr. Tyler Sloan had to move off the fourth line and back to “D” to replace Poti. Caps had some decent scoring chances – rookie John Carlson banged a shot off the post – but couldn’t convert.
Meanwhile, Tomas Plekanec and Travis Moen both scored for the Canadiens to give them the lead. Give credit to Montreal – they are playing hard and – as Boudreau predicted – very aggressive. They challenge shots. They fight for pucks in the corners. Both goals were the result of hard work up front. It’s obviously been an up-and-down team this year. But maybe with so many new players, the Canadiens are slowly generating some chemistry, We’ll see.
Absolutely no penalties on either team in the second. No chance that holds in the third. Caps will get their chances with the man-advantage. Michal Neuvirth has stopped 16 of 18 shots. Montreal goalie Carey Price has been very good – 17 of 18 saves – although the Caps have had some chances they haven’t buried.
