Protas, Mantha lift Capitals past Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Aliaksei Protas and Anthony Mantha each had a goal and an assist for the Washington Capitals in a 4-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Protas gave the Capitals a 4-3 lead at 11:57 of the third period when he scored from the slot.

His goal came after Nick Suzuki tied it 3-3 at 9:45 with a shot from the left circle that went in off Darcy Kuemper’s left arm during a power play.

T.J. Oshie scored his 300th NHL goal, and Sonny Milano scored in his first game since Dec. 10 for the Capitals (24-21-8), who had lost two in a row and eight of their past nine (1-6-2). Kuemper made 28 saves, including five over the final 1:27 after Tom Wilson was penalized for hooking at 18:33.

Washington captain Alex Ovechkin had his goal streak end at six games, one shy of tying his career long, which he set as a rookie in 2005-06.

“I loved the resiliency,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “This game for us, as we try to stay in this fight, we had to have two points. There’s no sort of skirting around it. We needed two points tonight, so for us to deliver -- we give that lead back and then we get that game winner -- I liked a lot of the things we did tonight.”

Milano missed 27 games because of an upper-body injury he sustained on a hit by New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba on Dec. 9.

“The team played well all around, and it was definitely fun to get a win in my first game back,” Milano said.

Suzuki extended his career-best point streak to 10 games, and Alex Newhook scored for the Canadiens (22-25-8), who have lost two straight and eight of 11 (3-7-1). Joel Armia had two assists, and Jake Allen made 30 saves.

“We were right there. We had a chance at the end to get another one and push it to overtime,” Allen said. “It was a battle, but it was just a few costly mistakes, and they had some guys who put it in the net.”

Mantha gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 3:40 of the first period, scoring on a rebound from the left side of the net.

“Where you really get the meat of your goals is around the net,” Carbery said. “And so, Anthony Mantha, prime example. Protas, prime example. So, for us to get rewarded and going there, and we’re doing a better job of that of late, that’s important."

Arber Xhekaj tied it 1-1 at 5:04 with a one-timer glove side from above the left circle off a pass from Joshua Roy.

“That’s probably the hardest shot I’ve ever taken, to be honest,” Xhekaj said. “I don’t think I’ve taken a harder shot than that so far. I was skating down on it and [Roy] teed me up pretty good.”

Oshie put Washington ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal at 10:00, shooting past Allen’s glove from the slot off a pass from Dylan Strome.

Oshie's 300th goal came in his 994th NHL game.

“This one means a lot,” Oshie said. “Coming into the year, the last couple of years I’ve had a lot of time out of the lineup from injuries. I don’t really have many milestones or goals that I really set for myself, but this is one coming into the year that I wanted to reach, so it feels good.”

Ovechkin had the secondary assist on Oshie’s goal to extend his point streak to eight games (six goals, four assists).

Newhook tied it 2-2 at 16:15 of the second period, scoring on his own rebound as he drove to the net from the right side.

Milano responded for the Capitals to make it 3-2 at 3:27 of the third.

“I don’t think we were as sharp as we needed to be,” Newhook said. “I think they’re a pretty opportunistic team. You give them a few looks, you give them some space around the net, they’ll score. So, I think our effort was there, but maybe our execution was not where it needed to be to get a win.”

NOTES: The Capitals played most of the game with five defensemen after Martin Fehervary sustained a lower-body injury during his first shift. “I don’t know the extent of it, but he could miss some time,” Carbery said. … Oshie is the third player selected in the 2005 NHL Draft to score at least 300 goals, joining Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins (580 goals) and Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings (410). … Suzuki reached 20 goals for the third straight season. He has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) during his point streak. … Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky had the primary assist on Suzuki’s goal and has 12 points (six goals, six assists) during a career-long eight-game point streak.