Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his seventh goal and added an assist, Alex Ovechkin had three assists in a game for the first time in nearly four years, and the Washington Capitals cruised to a 6-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.
Dmitry Orlov, John Carlson and Nic Dowd also had a goal and an assist each as Washington won its seventh out of nine in its return from a four-game West Coast trip.
Michael Sgarbossa scored his first career goal for the Capitals. Tom Wilson completed Ovechkin’s three-assist night when he scored on a one-timer of his feed, bringing Ovechkin’s season assist total to 18.
Artturi Lehkonen and Jake Evans each had a goal and an assist for Montreal, which lost its fifth game out of six.
Cole Caulfield also scored. Jake Allen stopped 28 shots for the Canadiens in his return after missing four games with a concussion.
WATCH | Kuznetsov, Ovechkin power Capitals to big win over Canadiens:
The Capitals scoring touch continued Wednesday night as they defeated the Canadiens 6-3 in Washington. 0:58
Washington opened a 3-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes and never looked back.
Dowd opened the scoring on a wraparound follow-up of his own rebound.
Carlson made it 2-0 when his one-timer from the point sailed past a screened Allen and off the underside of the crossbar.
Then Montreal helped Washington’s cause when Sgarbossa deflected Cedric Paquette’s clearance attempt toward Allen’s goal and Alexander Romanov mistakenly kicked it into his own net.
Ovechkin’s pass across the crease to Wilson made it 5-2 in the third, and Orlov made it 6-2 before Lehkonen scored late.