The Capitals picked up a badly needed win Friday night, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 at Verizon Center.
Washington opened the scoring Friday with Mathieu Perreault scoring his 11th of the season on a pass from Jason Chimera to take a 1-0 lead. The goal came at 6:58 of the period to give the Caps a one goal lead after one. Michal Neuvirth made nine saves on the nine pucks that came his way in the frame. Carey Price also made nine saves on 10 shots.
The Capitals made the score 2-0 at the 8:42 mark of the second when Jason Chimera scored on a breakaway, his 16th of the campaign. Alex Ovechkin netted his 25th of the year just 16 seconds later to make the score 3-0 Washington.
With the Capitals leading 3-0 in the third, Rene Bourque scored a short-handed goal 3:42 into the frame to wreck Neuvirth’s shutout, but Montreal would not find the net the rest of the evening. Joel Ward scored into an empty net to put the game on ice at 19:24. The Capitals head to Toronto earning a 4-1 win over the Canadiens.
The Capitals head to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs Saturday night at Air Canada Centre. The game will end a stretch of six games in nine days for Washington. The Caps will open up a season-best five-game homestand Tuesday night against the New York Islanders at 7:00 p.m. The New Jersey Devils visit the District for the final time in the 2011-12 regular season next Friday, March 2. Mike Knuble, John Erskine and Roman Hamrlik were all healthy scratches for Dale Hunter’s team against Montreal.