Andrew Mangiapane scored the go-ahead goal with 3:37 remaining in the third period and the visiting Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Sunday night.
Dylan Strome controlled a stretch pass at center ice from Trevor van Riemsdyk, crossed the blue line and dropped the puck to Mangiapane, who scored his first goal of the series on a high wrist shot from the slot.
Brandon Duhaime scored into the empty net with 2:39 left and Tom Wilson did so with 55 seconds remaining for the 5-2 final.
The Capitals had lost five straight road playoff games.
“Good game by our group obviously and we stuck with it,” Mangiapane said. “I thought we were playing a great game and just happy to get the win and get out of here.”
The Capitals lead the best-of-seven series 3-1, and Game 5 is Wednesday night in Washington.
Duhaime scored two third-period goals and Strome had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who are the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division and in the conference. Van Riemsdyk had two assists and Logan Thompson, who left Game 3 with a lower-body injury, started and made 16 saves.
“We stuck with it,” said Strome. “Felt like we had control most of the game which is always a good thing. They really took it to us last game so it was nice to kind of revert to our game and we found a way.”
Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield scored for the Canadiens, who are the second wild card from the East. Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson each had two assists and Jakub Dobes, starting in place of the injured Sam Montembeault, made 21 saves.
Montreal was 2-for-4 on the power play; Washington was 0-for-5.
Strome gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 1:25 of the second period. Anthony Beauvillier outfought two Canadiens and put the puck on goal, and Strome back-handed the rebound home.
The Capitals had a 44-second 5-on-3 advantage beginning at the 6:11 mark of the period but were unable to capitalize.
Slafkovsky tied it 1-1 on a power play at 10:33. Demidov skated behind the net and fed Slafkovsky for a one-timer from below the left circle.
Caufield gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead at 18:32 of the second period when he scored a power-play goal on a one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Hutson. It was his third goal of the series.
“Had the lead going into the third and a couple of tough bounces,” Caufield said, “but I think it’s right there for us and we’ve just got to find a way to move on and be better for next game.”
Duhaime tied it 2-2 at 6:39 of the third period. The sequence began with a crushing check by Wilson on defenseman Alexandre Carrier, who was slow to get off the ice for a replacement. Dobes made the initial save on Duhaime below the right circle, but the puck deflected in off Caufield in the crease.
–Field Level Media
