Cole Caufield had a goal and an assist as the Montreal Canadiens ran over Washington 6-3 in an electric Game 3 that featured a brawl on the Capitals’ bench and both starting goalies exiting with injuries Friday.
Christian Dvorak, Nick Suzuki, Alexandre Carrier, Juraj Slafkovsky and Alex Newhook also scored as Montreal cut Washington’s lead to 2-1 in the first-round, best-of-seven playoff series.
Sam Montembeault stopped 11 of 13 shots before exiting with 8:21 remaining in the second period with an undisclosed injury. Rookie netminder Jakub Dobes saved seven of eight the rest of the way.
Alex Ovechkin, Connor McMichael and Jakob Chychrun replied for Washington, which won Games 1 and 2 at home.
Logan Thompson — berated by “Thomp-son!” taunts all night — stopped 30 of 35 shots before also leaving with an injury. Thompson needed to be helped off the ice after teammate Dylan Strome fell into him following Slafkovsky’s goal with 6:37 remaining. Backup Charlie Lindgren made four saves.
A heated fight between Capitals forward Tom Wilson and Montreal’s Josh Anderson spilled into Washington’s bench at the end of the second period.
After some pushing and shoving between bruising defenceman Arber Xhekaj and Wilson with both benches empty, Anderson got involved and fell backwards into the Capitals’ bench, which had the door open.
The six-foot-four, 225-pound Wilson followed Anderson in and charged through a linesman toward the Canadiens winger while other Montreal and Washington players exchanged blows on the ice before a crackling Bell Centre crowd.
Wilson and Anderson each received 10-minute misconducts and minor penalties for roughing, while Xhekaj and Lars Eller were penalized with offsetting roughing minors.
Moments before the brawl, Caufield buried his second of the playoffs to put the Canadiens up 3-2 with nine seconds left in the second period after an interception and cross-ice feed from Lane Hutson.
Ovechkin responded with a tying goal past Dobes 2:39 into the third period, but Dvorak’s shot banked off Duhaime and into the net at 4:17 to restore Montreal’s one-goal lead.
Slafkovsky then made it 5-3, slotting a Caufield pass into the net before Thompson left the ice in noticeable pain. Newhook put the game out of reach with a power-play goal at 17:35 as “Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the building.
It was Montreal’s first playoff game with a sold-out crowd since 2017. The Canadiens played before a limited-capacity crowd of 3,500 in their last playoff home game, Game 4 of the 2021 Stanley Cup final.
Amped up well before the puck dropped, the crowd let out deafening “Go Habs Go!” chants after the Canadiens jumped out onto the ice. The feverish cheers delayed the national anthems, before fans mercilessly booed “The Star-Spangled Banner” and belted out “O Canada.”
McMichael temporarily quieted the building when he opened the scoring 3:20 into the game, deflecting Matt Roy’s shot past Montembeault while standing in the blue paint.
Carrier then tied the game when his point shot flew past Thompson’s blocker with 53 seconds remaining in the first, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Suzuki gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 8:37 of the second, chipping a backhand over Thompson’s left shoulder after John Carlson fumbled the puck into the slot.
Chychrun responded a little more than two minutes later by hammering a point-blank slapshot past Montembeault after a Canadiens defensive breakdown. Montembeault left the game soon after.
Game 4 will take place Sunday evening back at the Bell Centre.
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis changed his lineup for Game 3. Forward Kasperi Kapanen entered for Patrik Laine, while bruising defenceman Arber Xhekaj replaced Jayden Struble.
Laine was ruled out with an upper-body injury after being benched for the entire third period in Game 2. The Canadiens said he would be evaluated on a daily basis.
Towering forward Aliaksei Protas remained out for Washington after head coach Spencer Carbery said he was “a possibility” to play. The six-foot-six, 247-pound Protas — who broke out with 30 goals and 36 assists in 76 games this season — hasn’t played since April 4 with a skate cut to his left foot.
