Feb. 17, 2024 23:51 PM EST

Ovechkin’s Goal Streak Ends, But Capitals Beat Canadiens 4-3

Montreal Canadiens' Joel Armia shoots on Washington Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Montreal. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP) Graham Hughes, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Montreal Canadiens' Joel Armia shoots on Washington Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Montreal. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Canadiens' Juraj Slafkovsky (20) moves in on Washington Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper as Capitals' Rasmus Sandin (38) defends during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Montreal. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Washington Capitals' Aliaksei Protas celebrates his goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Montreal. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Washington Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper lunges for the puck as Montreal Canadiens' Juraj Slafkovsky moves in during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Montreal. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
Washington Capitals' Aliaksei Protas (21) scores against Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen as Canadiens' Jake Evans (71) watches during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Montreal. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)
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MONTREAL (AP) — T.J. Oshie scored the 300th goal of his career, while Aliaksei Protas and Anthony Mantha each had a goal and an assist as Washington delivered with a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

Sonny Milano also scored for Washington, which snapped a two-game skid and earned its second win in 10 outings.

Alex Ovechkin earned an assist but fell just short of tying his career-high seven-game goal streak.

The Capitals captain entered the night with goals in six straight, joining Brett Hull (seven games in 2003-04) and Johnny Bucyk (six games in 1974-75) as the only players to do so at 38 or older.

Darcy Kuemper stopped 28 shots.

“We talked about it before the game,” Oshie said. “There’s not a point out there that we don’t need right now.”

Nick Suzuki, Arber Xhekaj and Alex Newhook scored while Jake Allen made 30 saves for Montreal. Joel Armia had two assists.

Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky extended their career-high point streaks. The captain pushed his run to 10 games — the longest active streak in the league — while Slafkovsky reached eight in the losing effort.

“We were right there,” Allen said. “It was a battle, but it was just a few costly mistakes and they had some guys who put it in the net.”

The Canadiens have lost two straight after falling 7-4 to the New York Rangers on Thursday.

Tied 2-2 after 40 minutes, Milano scored 3:27 into the third period by tipping a pass from Max Pacioretty past Allen. It was Milano’s first game back from a 27-game absence due to an upper-body injury.

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery commended his team’s sense of urgency to stick with it in a back-and-forth affair.

“I loved the resiliency. This game for us, as we try to stay in this fight, we had to have two points,” Carbery said. “There’s no skirting around it, we needed two points tonight so for us to deliver … I liked a lot of the things we did tonight.”

Suzuki evened things up again with a power-play goal at 9:45 for his 20th of the season, firing a shot off a defender’s leg and past Kuemper after a cross-ice pass from Slafkovsky.

Washington took a 4-3 lead with 8:03 left in the period as Protas ended a 29-game goal drought by pouncing on a rebound.

With Allen pulled for an extra attacker, Capitals forward Tom Wilson took a minor penalty with 1:27 left to give Montreal a 6-on-4 advantage.

The Canadiens peppered Kuemper with shots in a frantic 90-second spree spent almost entirely in Washington’s zone, but couldn’t find the equalizer.

After a couple injury-plagued seasons, Oshie was proud to reach the 300-goal milestone.

“I don’t have many milestones or goals that I set for myself,” he said. “But this was one coming into the year that I wanted to reach.”

Defenseman Joel Edmundson played his first game in Montreal since the Canadiens traded him to Washington in July after three seasons with the team.

UP NEXT

Capitals: Host New Jersey on Tuesday night.

Canadiens: Host Buffalo on Wednesday night to finish a two-game homestand.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

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