MONTREAL - Cole Caufield had a goal and an assist as the Montreal Canadiens ran over Washington 6-3 in an electric Game 3 that featured a brawl on the Capitals鈥 bench and both starting goalies exiting with injuries Friday.
Christian Dvorak, Nick Suzuki, Alexandre Carrier, Juraj Slafkovsky and Alex Newhook also scored as Montreal cut Washington鈥檚 lead to 2-1 in the first-round, best-of-seven playoff series.
Sam Montembeault stopped 11 of 13 shots before exiting with 8:21 remaining in the second period with an undisclosed injury. Rookie netminder Jakub Dobes saved seven of eight the rest of the way.
Alex Ovechkin, Connor McMichael and Jakob Chychrun replied for Washington, which won Games 1 and 2 at home.
Logan Thompson 鈥 berated by 鈥淭homp-son!鈥 taunts all night 鈥 stopped 30 of 35 shots before also leaving with an injury. Thompson needed to be helped off the ice after teammate Dylan Strome fell into him following Slafkovsky鈥檚 goal with 6:37 remaining. Backup Charlie Lindgren made four saves.
A heated fight between Capitals forward Tom Wilson and Montreal鈥檚 Josh Anderson spilled into Washington鈥檚 bench at the end of the second period.
After some pushing and shoving between bruising defenceman Arber Xhekaj and Wilson with both benches empty, Anderson got involved and fell backwards into the Capitals' bench, which had the door open.
The six-foot-four, 225-pound Wilson followed Anderson in and charged through a linesman toward the Canadiens winger while other Montreal and Washington players exchanged blows on the ice before a crackling Bell Centre crowd.
Wilson and Anderson each received 10-minute misconducts and minor penalties for roughing, while Xhekaj and Lars Eller were penalized with offsetting roughing minors.
Moments before the brawl, Caufield buried his second of the playoffs to put the Canadiens up 3-2 with nine seconds left in the second period after an interception and cross-ice feed from Lane Hutson.
Ovechkin responded with a tying goal past Dobes 2:39 into the third period, but Dvorak鈥檚 shot banked off Duhaime and into the net at 4:17 to restore Montreal鈥檚 one-goal lead.
Slafkovsky then made it 5-3, slotting a Caufield pass into the net before Thompson left the ice in noticeable pain. Newhook put the game out of reach with a power-play goal at 17:35 as 鈥淥l茅, Ol茅鈥 chants echoed around the building.
It was Montreal鈥檚 first playoff game with a sold-out crowd since 2017. The Canadiens played before a limited-capacity crowd of 3,500 in their last playoff home game, Game 4 of the 2021 Stanley Cup final.
Amped up well before the puck dropped, the crowd let out deafening 鈥淕o Habs Go!鈥 chants after the Canadiens jumped out onto the ice. The feverish cheers delayed the national anthems, before fans mercilessly booed 鈥淭he Star-Spangled Banner鈥 and belted out 鈥淥 Canada.鈥
McMichael temporarily quieted the building when he opened the scoring 3:20 into the game, deflecting Matt Roy鈥檚 shot past Montembeault while standing in the blue paint.
Carrier then tied the game when his point shot flew past Thompson鈥檚 blocker with 53 seconds remaining in the first, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Suzuki gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 8:37 of the second, chipping a backhand over Thompson鈥檚 left shoulder after John Carlson fumbled the puck into the slot.
Chychrun responded a little more than two minutes later by hammering a point-blank slap shot past Montembeault after a Canadiens defensive breakdown. Montembeault left the game soon after.
Game 4 will take place Sunday evening back at the Bell Centre.
SHUFFLING IT UP
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis changed his lineup for Game 3. Forward Kasperi Kapanen entered for Patrik Laine, while bruising defenceman Arber Xhekaj replaced Jayden Struble.
Laine was ruled out with an upper-body injury after being benched for the entire third period in Game 2. The Canadiens said he would be evaluated on a daily basis.
WAITING ON PROTAS
Towering forward Aliaksei Protas remained out for Washington after head coach Spencer Carbery said he was 鈥渁 possibility鈥 to play. The six-foot-six, 247-pound Protas 鈥 who broke out with 30 goals and 36 assists in 76 games this season 鈥 hasn鈥檛 played since April 4 with a skate cut to his left foot.
This report by 好色tvwas first published April 25, 2025.
