Tom Wilson collected a goal and an assist to help the Washington Capitals advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals courtesy of a 4-1 victory over the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday in Game 5 of their first-round series.
The Capitals, who recorded a 4-1 win in the series, will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the next round. The Hurricanes ousted the New Jersey Devils in five games during their first-round series.
“We just play for each other. We have fun,” Washington captain Alex Ovechkin told ESPN. “We just have to play the same way against Carolina.”
Ovechkin scored on the power play in the first period for his 76th career playoff goal, tying Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for 12th place in NHL history. It was his 30th postseason goal with the man advantage, moving him into a tie with Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom and Joe Pavelski for fifth on the league’s all-time list.
“I got lucky on the faceoff and Ovie did the rest,” Dylan Strome told Monumental Sports Network.
Washington defenseman Jakob Chychrun scored in the first period and Brandon Duhaime found the empty net in the third.
Strome notched two assists to extend his point streak to eight games dating back to the regular season. Logan Thompson made 28 saves for the Capitals.
“We needed kind of everyone to step up and create some offense,” Strome said. “I felt like we did that. You see up and down the lineup we got key contributions.”
Montreal’s Emil Heineman scored off a deflection from the doorstep at 2:40 of the third period, cutting the Canadiens’ deficit to 3-1.
Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes started his second straight game in place of the injured Sam Montembeault and turned aside 24 shots.
Strome cleanly defeated Christian Dvorak on an offensive-zone faceoff and the puck squirted to Ovechkin, who unleashed a blast from the edge of the right circle that sailed past Dobes to open the scoring at 9:12 of the first period.
The Capitals doubled the advantage just over two minutes later after a patient play by Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Stationed behind the net, Dubois slowly skated toward the right circle before wiring a cross-slot feed toward Chychrun, who gained a step on Montreal’s Cole Caufield. Chychrun deftly deposited the puck past Dobes from a sharp angle.
Dobes lost his stick during a spirited exchange, and Wilson made him pay by scoring from in close to give Washington a 3-0 lead with 3:01 remaining in the second period. The goal was Wilson’s second in as many games.
“Obviously not the result that we wanted,” Dobes said. “I believe that we have a lot of playoff hockey in front of us. … Still an exciting future. It (stinks) right now, but tomorrow will be a better day.”
–Field Level Media
