Andrew Mangiapane scored the go-ahead goal with just under four minutes remaining, Brandon Duhaime netted two goals, and Logan Thompson made 16 saves as the Washington Capitals defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 on Sunday night to seize a commanding 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
The Capitals, who won the first two games at home, will have a chance to close out the series when they return to Washington for Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Trailing 2-1 entering the third period, Washington stormed back, fueled by Duhaime’s game-tying goal at 6:39. After a couple of fortunate bounces in front of the net, Duhaime knocked the puck past Montreal rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes to even the score. The goal came moments after a massive hit by Tom Wilson on Canadiens defenseman Alexandre Carrier, who later exited the game.
Mangiapane delivered the dagger at 16:11, picking up a drop pass at the blue line and snapping a shot past Dobes’ glove to give the Capitals a 3-2 lead. Wilson and Duhaime each added empty-netters in the final minute to seal the victory.
Dylan Strome also had a big night for Washington, recording a goal and an assist. Tom Wilson scored earlier in the third period to give the Capitals their first insurance goal before the late flurry.
Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield scored for Montreal, both capitalizing on power plays in the second period. Slafkovsky tied the game at 1 at 10:33 off a slick feed from rookie Ivan Demidov, with Lane Hutson earning the secondary assist. Caufield gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead at 18:32 with a blistering one-timer that beat Thompson clean.
Thompson, who exited Game 3 after a collision with teammate Dylan Strome, returned to the net for Game 4 and delivered a strong, steady performance. The Capitals’ goaltender had to be helped off the ice Friday night after Montreal’s chaotic 6-3 win, a contest that also saw both teams’ starters knocked out of action during a bench-clearing brawl.
Dobes, the 23-year-old from Czechia, made his first career playoff start in place of the injured Sam Montembeault (day-to-day, lower body) and stopped 21 of 25 shots. He held strong through two periods but couldn’t fend off Washington’s final push.
Washington opened the scoring just 1:25 into the second period when Strome took advantage of a pair of Montreal turnovers to beat Dobes. Despite a sloppy start, the Canadiens clawed back with a strong special-teams showing in the middle frame before the Capitals’ third-period surge put them on the brink of advancing.
Now, with the series shifting back to Capital One Arena, Washington has a chance to move on with one more victory.
