Alex Tuch Scores Twice as Capitals Outlast Canadiens 5-4 in Washington

WASHINGTON

Alex Tuch picked the perfect night for his biggest game as a Capital. Tuch scored twice and added an assist, including a shorthanded goal scored without even looking at the net, and the Washington Capitals held off the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 on Wednesday night in Washington, according to Reuters' recap filed through Field Level Media. Washington snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 4-3 on the season, while Montreal fell to 3-3-1 after a comeback that came up one goal short.

This one never settled into a rhythm. The teams traded goals all night, locked at 3-3 deep into the third period, and every time Washington built a cushion, Montreal found a way to pull it back to one. The difference, in the end, was that the Capitals' most productive player on the night kept producing in the moments that decided the game: on the penalty kill in the second period, and again with the clock running down in the third.

A Shorthanded Goal Worth Seeing Twice

Tuch's first goal was the highlight of the night. Shorthanded in the second period, at 6:16, he scored a no-look goal, per Reuters, the kind of finish that requires a player to know exactly where the net is without checking, and the kind that deflates a power play more thoroughly than any dump-in or clear. A power-play unit takes the ice expecting to change the game in its own favor; giving up a shorthanded goal instead, and a stylish one at that, flips the emotional math of the entire bench.

It was not a one-man show, either. Jordan Kyrou finished with a goal and an assist for Washington, Ivan Miroshnichenko scored on the power play, and Justin Holl also scored, according to the Flashscore roundup of the night's NHL action. Five goals spread across the lineup is exactly the kind of scoring depth Washington needed on a night when its defense and goaltending were going to be stressed for a full sixty minutes.

Montreal Refused to Go Away

Josh Anderson scored twice for Montreal, Lane Hutson added a goal and an assist, and the Canadiens outshot Washington 29-24, per Reuters. Montreal's young core kept generating chances in waves, and Hutson, whose creativity from the blue line has become a nightly problem for opponents, was at the center of much of it. The Canadiens did not play like a team that deserved to leave empty-handed; they played like a team that ran into one forward having the kind of night that tilts a game by itself.

The finish was frantic. Tuch scored his second goal of the game at 17:05 of the third period to restore Washington's two-goal cushion, according to Reuters, and it turned out the Capitals needed every bit of it: Nick Suzuki scored on the power play at 18:21 to cut the lead to 5-4, and Montreal pressed through the final minute with a chance to tie. Charlie Lindgren closed the door, finishing with 26 saves for Washington, while Jakub Dobes made 19 saves for Montreal, per the Flashscore roundup.

What It Means

For Washington, the win stops a two-game slide before it could become something heavier. A 4-3 start is not the standard this group sets for itself, but wins like this one, imperfect and high-event and rescued by a star performance, are often the ones that steady a dressing room. The Capitals gave up four goals and a pile of chances, and still banked two points because their penalty kill produced a goal, their power play produced another, and their goaltender made the last saves of the night.

Montreal leaves with a 3-3-1 record and a familiar frustration. Anderson's two goals, Hutson's two points and Suzuki's late strike are the profile of a team whose best players showed up. The Canadiens outshot Washington and still lost, which usually traces back to special teams and timing: Montreal surrendered a shorthanded goal and a power-play goal, and on a night when the chances were there, the one play it could not afford, Tuch's no-look finish on the penalty kill, is the one it will see on the highlight shows.

Special teams, in the end, wrote the margin. Washington scored in every situation that decides a close game: at even strength, on the power play through Miroshnichenko, and shorthanded through Tuch, a swing Montreal never quite recovered from. The Canadiens' own power play produced Suzuki's late goal and a genuine chance to steal a point in the final minute, but a team that gives up a shorthanded goal cannot spend the last minute chasing the game. That sequence, more than the shot count, is what Montreal's coaching staff will circle: the chances were close to even, the situations were not.

Both clubs turn the page quickly in a crowded October schedule, but they take different things from Wednesday. Washington takes proof that its scoring can come from anywhere in the lineup when a game opens up. Montreal takes a loss that could easily have been a win, and a reminder that hanging around is not the same as finishing. Follow the NHL every night on Previously's sports hub, keep the live board open on our scores page, read how this game developed in our live coverage, and catch up on Montreal's previous outing in our shootout story from earlier this week.