Montreal, QC – Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves to record his third game road 0 victory over Montreal.
Dennis Wideman, Matt Hendricks and Alexander Semin supplied the goals in Washington's first road triumph since its last visit to the Bell Centre on January 18. That contest also ended 3-0. In fact, Saturday marked the third consecutive time Montreal had been shut out by the Capitals.
Alex Ovechkin was back in the lineup for Washington after serving a three-game suspension for an illegal hit on Pittsburgh's Zbynek Michalek prior to the All-Star break.
Peter Budaj stopped 20 shots for the Canadiens.
"The intensity was in the right place," said Montreal coach Randy Cunneyworth. "We were doing the right things, but unfortunately it resulted in our third loss this week."
After a clean faceoff win by Brooks Laich, Wideman let go a shot from the right point that floated past Budaj at the 8:10 mark of the first period.
Wideman praised his goaltender for preserving the one-goal lead.
"[The Canadiens] took the game in the second (period), but (Vokoun) made some great saves and kept it 1-0," the Washington defenseman said. Montreal outshot the Capitals 10-3 during the middle stanza.
Laich played a key role in the second Washington goal. He came out from behind the net with possession of the puck and tried to stuff it in at the right post. A scramble ensued and Hendricks wound up firing the puck over a prone netminder at 6:11 of the third.
The Capitals then were awarded their second penalty shot of the game when Semin was tripped on a breakaway. Budaj denied Troy Brouwer midway through the second period, but he had no chance at gloving Semin's slap shot from the high slot at 11:57.
Game Notes
Washington has won four straight as the guest against the Canadiens and improved to 5-0-1 in its last six trips to Montreal...Vokoun posted his 47th career shutout...The Capitals avoided tying their season-worst five-game road skid from November 15-December 5.
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