Capitals 5, Canadiens 1
MONTREAL -- Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 29th and 30th goals and added an assist to lead the Washington Capitals to a 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Troy Brouwer also scored twice and Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and two assists for Washington, which took a 5-0 lead in the third period on Ovechkin's second goal of the game and his 21st in 20 games.
Braden Holtby made 31 saves, losing his shutout on Max Pacioretty's goal with 5:09 left in the third period.
The Capitals lead the Southeast Division with 52 points. They moved three points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets, who lost 5-4 to the New York Islanders. Washington and Winnipeg both have three games left.
Carey Price stopped 19 shots for Montreal, which has lost four of five since clinching a playoff spot with a 5-1 win in Buffalo on April 11.
The Canadiens remain in first place in the Northeast Division with 59 points, two points ahead of the Boston Bruins, who lost 3-2 to Pittsburgh earlier in the day. Montreal has three games remaining, all on the road. Boston has five games left.
Ovechkin scored 4:49 in when he faked a pass and fired a shot along the ice between Price's pads.
Brouwer made it 2-0 with his 18th goal at 5:57. Capitals center Mike Ribeiro won a faceoff in the Canadiens' zone and drew the puck back to defenseman Karl Azner at the left point. Azner moved the puck up to Brouwer, who beat Price with a shot from the left side.
Brouwer got his second of the game, his 19th of the season, 3:49 into the second to make it 3-0.
Backstrom scored his seventh on a power play at 7:50 when Ovechkin's pass from the left side found him unmarked to the right of the goal for a tap-in.
Ribeiro got his third assist of the game on Washington's second straight power-play goal 13:23 into the third. Ribeiro took Backstrom's pass and fed the puck to Ovechkin, who beat Price between the legs again from the left side.
Pacioretty scored his 13th goal at 14:51 to spoil Holtby's shutout bid.
NOTES: The blue and yellow "Boston Strong" ribbon was displayed on the Bell Centre video scoreboard during the singing of The Star-Spangled Banner. ... Forward Brandon Prust was presented with the Jacques Beauchamp Trophy before the game. The award is presented to the Canadiens' unsung hero as determined by a vote of media covering the team. ... Montreal defenseman Raphael Diaz returned after missing 25 games because of a concussion. ... Forwards Brooks Laich (strained groin) and Joel Ward (knee contusion) and defenseman Tom Poti (back injury) remain out of the Capitals' lineup.
