Skip to main content
hockey

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) shoots the puck on Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (31) in the first period at Verizon Center in Washington, DC on Dec. 17, 2016.Geoff Burke

Carey Price made exactly the statement Washington Capitals coach Barry Trotz expected a night after getting pulled, and this time his Montreal Canadiens teammates were there to back him up.

Price stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced as the Canadiens rebounded from a bad loss at home to beat the Capitals 2-1 Saturday night and snap their winning streak at six games. Artturi Lehkonen and Jeff Petry scored for Montreal, which went back to Price for back-to-back starts.

A day after glaring at Michel Therrien after Montreal's coach yanked him for allowing four goals on 18 shots in a 4-2 loss to San Jose, Price made big saves on T.J. Oshie, Marcus Johansson and former teammate Lars Eller for his 17th victory of the season and 250th of his NHL career. Those 17 wins rank him second in the league behind Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Trotz said before the game that he expected Price to "come back and make a statement," adding that "If there's one area that I know they're going to be good tonight, it's going be in net." He wasn't wrong about the goaltender he got to know well at the World Cup of Hockey in September.

Price, the 2014-15 Vezina Trophy winner beat last season's winner, Braden Holtby of the Capitals, who made 23 saves. Nicklas Backstrom scored a 5-on-3 power-play goal for Washington, which lost for the first time since Dec. 3 and in regulation for the first time since Dec. 1

Unlike Friday against the Sharks, the Canadiens were on top of their game at Washington to support Price. They looked much fresher than the Capitals, who won in a shootout at Carolina on Friday night.

The Canadiens got a scare late in the second period when defenceman Shea Weber took a shot from Dmitry Orlov off the right leg. Weber missed the final 4:25 of the second but returned for the third.

NOTES: The Capitals recalled F Zach Sanford from the American Hockey League on Saturday morning as he skated in his first NHL game since Nov. 26. ... Backstrom's goal gave him six points in his past six games and 18 in his past 16.

UP NEXT

Canadiens: Host Anaheim on Tuesday night.

Capitals: At Philadelphia on Wednesday night.

Interact with The Globe