Suzuki, Slafkovsky each scores twice, Canadiens hand Capitals 5th straight loss

WASHINGTON -- Nick Suzuki had two goals and an assist to help the Montreal Canadiens to a 5-2 victory against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Tuesday.

Juraj Slafkovsky scored twice for the Canadiens (21-21-8), who were playing their first game since trading center Sean Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. Mike Matheson had two assists, and Sam Montembeault made 37 saves.

"We had a lot of enthusiasm coming back after the (NHL All-Star) break, had two good days of practice and we got out to a great [3-0] lead,” said Suzuki, the Montreal captain. “Overall, the game was a bit sloppy. It's to be expected after the break, but we managed to have a solid third period and extend our lead.”

Alex Ovechkin scored for a second straight game, and Dylan Strome had two assists for the Capitals (22-19-7), who have lost five straight (0-4-1). Charlie Lindgren allowed three goals on nine shots before being relieved by Darcy Kuemper, who made 15 saves.

“We put ourselves in a bit of a hole here, so not a great time to lose five in a row,” Strome said. “We’ve got to string some wins together. We’ve done it before, so I think we can do it again.”

It was the first game for each team in 10 days.

Suzuki gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 6:42 of the first period. After Washington’s Nicolas Aube-Kubel turned the puck over at center ice, Cole Caufield entered the zone along the right boards and passed across to Suzuki, who scored on a one-timer from the bottom of the left face-off circle.

Caufield’s assist extended his NHL career-high point streak to 10 games (13 points; six goals, seven assists).

Suzuki made it 2-0 less than a minute later. Arber Xhekaj’s shot from the point hit the right post and deflected to Suzuki, who scored from below the right circle at 7:39.

"It was definitely nice to get two goals early, get you settled into the game,” Suzuki said. “It was nice to play with [Caufield and Slafkovsky], and we're just going to keep getting better. We're talking a lot, which is great, trying to see where we're all going to be on the ice. We're building that chemistry back up.”

Michael Pezzetta increased the lead to 3-0 at 13:07. After Rafael Harvey-Pinard got to a loose puck in the right corner, his pass was deflected to Pezzetta, who moved into the slot and scored into the top left corner from the right hash marks.

Lindgren was pulled following the goal.

“Just change the momentum,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said of the switch. “The chances that we give up, it’s the same old story. We just make some massive mistakes there that, unfortunately for us, are just happening to different guys each night. It’s tough.”

Ovechkin brought the Capitals within 3-1 at 6:03 of the second period with his 10th goal of the season. Strome got the rebound of Martin Fehervary’s shot at the left post and passed across to Ovechkin, who scored into an open net from the right circle.

“I think it was kind of wake-up call for all of us,” Ovechkin, the Washington captain, said of the second period. “You know, we put the puck deep, we forecheck, we make smart decisions with the puck, and you can see we play in the zone most of the time and how I said, we just didn't score.”

Montembeault made 15 saves in the period.

“Even though they were dominating in our zone we didn’t give them much in the slot,” Montembeault said. “We had a lot of guys that blocked shots.”

Slafkovsky made it 4-1 on a wrist shot from the left circle at 11:19 of the third period with the teams playing 4-on-4.

Rasmus Sandin pulled the Capitals within 4-2 at 11:41 with the teams still at 4-on-4. He scored with a one-timer from the top of the right circle off a pass from John Carlson.

Slafkovsky increased the lead to 5-2 on the power play at 14:01, scoring on a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Matheson to cap his first multigoal game in the NHL.

“I felt very fortunate coming out of that second period still having a two-goal lead,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said, “and we managed the third pretty good.”

NOTES: Suzuki has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 11 games against Washington. … Ovechkin has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his past 12 games. … Strome has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his past 15 games.