Washington kicked off a two-game weekend with a 3-0 victory over Montreal at Bell Center
The Capitals opened the scoring in the first period with a clean face-off win from Brooks Laich to Dennis Wideman. Wideman fluttered a puck that rolled up on him past Peter Budaj in the Montreal net for his 10th goal of the season at 8:10. The shot from Wideman was one of 11 first period tries for Washington, compared with 10 on Tomas Vokoun from Montreal sticks. Neither team scored in the second period, although Troy Brouwer was awarded a penalty shot at 9:14 of the frame when Budaj threw his stick at the puck on a partial Brouwer breakaway. The Canadiens held a 9-3 shot advantage in the second, but could not score.
With the score 1-0 Washington as the third period began, Matt Hendricks provided insurance for the Caps with his third goal of the season, and his second of the road trip at 6:11. Alexander Semin also converted a penalty shot at 11:57 for his 13th goal of the season at 11:57. That’s more than Vokoun needed, who earning his third shutout of the season in a 3-0 final.
The Capitals return home to complete two games in as many days Sunday, hosting the Boston Bruins at Verizon Center at 12:30 p.m. Sunday’s game can be seen nationally on NBC, and will be the second straight home game against the Bruins. Washington announced prior to puck drop Saturday that right wing Joel Rechlicz has cleared waivers and has been assigned to Hershey. Keith Aucoin dressed in his first game for Washington in 2011-12 after being recalled from Hershey Friday. At the time of recall, Aucoin led the AHL in scoring with 70 points. Montreal began the day tied with Carolina for 14th place in the Eastern Conference with 47 points. The two penalty shots awarded to Washington marked the first time in franchise history the Capitals had two penalty shot chances in the same game.