WASHINGTON — Alex Tuch scored twice and added an assist to power the Washington Capitals to a 5-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night in Washington, snapping a two-game losing streak in a back-and-forth contest.
Tuch factored on three goals, including a power-play equalizer late in the first period and a short-handed go-ahead tally early in the second, while Jordan Kyrou had a goal and an assist, Justin Holl and Ivan Miroshnichenko also scored, and Charlie Lindgren stopped 26 shots for Washington, which rebounded after a 4-2 loss at Carolina on Tuesday.
Josh Anderson scored twice for Montreal, with Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki also scoring and Jakub Dobes in net. Anderson opened the scoring at 4:56 of the first, burying a feed from Alex Newhook alone at the net front, before Kyrou answered by cutting to the middle and rifling a quick shot past Dobes. Hutson, facing younger brother Cole for the first time, restored Montreal's lead with a quick shot from the slot, but Washington tied it at 2-2 with 25 seconds left in the period when Ivan Miroshnichenko's backdoor feed to Tuch went off Anderson's stick and in.
Washington took a 3-2 lead at 6:16 of the second on Tuch's short-handed goal before Anderson tied it again from close range. Holl broke the 3-3 tie with 7:31 remaining on a point shot through traffic, and Tuch added insurance minutes later for his fifth goal of the season. Suzuki pulled Montreal within one with 1:39 to go on a power play with an extra attacker, but Washington held on.
Both teams were on the second night of a back-to-back after Montreal edged Buffalo 4-3 in a shootout at home on Tuesday in Bolduc's shootout winner over the Sabres. Montreal hosts Buffalo again on Saturday night, while Washington hosts New Jersey on Saturday.