MONTREAL – Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves for his third shutout of the season and Alexander Semin scored on the second of Washington's two penalty shots in the Capitals' 3-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
Alex Ovechkin returned to the Capitals' lineup after serving a three-game suspension for his hit on Pittsburgh's Zbynek Michalek.
Dennis Wideman and Matt Hendricks also scored for Washington, which won for just the second time in its last six (2-2-2).
Vokoun recorded his 47th NHL shutout, his first in 21 games against Montreal. He debuted with the Canadiens in 1996-97.
Peter Budaj stopped 20 shots for the Canadiens, who lost their third in a row.
Wideman scored his 10th goal on a floater from the point after Brooks Laick won a faceoff in the Canadiens' zone 8:10 into the game. Hendricks made it a two-goal lead 6:11 into the third.
Semin fired a slap shot past Budaj on his penalty shot 11:57 into the third after he was hooked by Tomas Kaberle on a breakaway.
Budaj stopped Troy Brouwer on Washington's first penalty shot 9:16 into the second. Brouwer was awarded the penalty shot by referee Rob Martell after Budaj threw his stick at the puck.
Montreal's Scott Gomez failed to score a goal for his 51st straight game, ensuring that he will go a full calendar year between goals. The veteran center, in the fifth year of a seven-year, $51.5-million contract he signed with the New York Rangers, last scored on Feb. 5, 2011.
NOTES: Vokoun, who has also played for Nashville and Florida, allowed four goals in his one and only appearance for the Canadiens on Feb. 6, 1997. He was pulled after the first period of Montreal's 9-5 loss in Philadelphia. ... Capitals head coach Dale Hunter used his timeout 3:54 into the third with Washington set for a faceoff in its zone after an icing call. ... Gomez has seven assists in 22 games this season.
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