WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored the first playoff overtime goal of his NHL career to give the Washington Capitals a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Monday night.

Fresh off breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals in league history 15 days earlier, Ovechkin’s second of the game 3:26 into OT allowed the Eastern Conference top-seeded Capitals to escape after blowing a two-goal third-period lead. Before letting it slip away, they spent much of the night bullying the smaller, less experienced Canadiens with one big hit after another.

But it was not easy. Pierre-Luc Dubois‘ penalty paved the way for Cole Caufield to start Montreal’s comeback bid with 9:28 left in regulation. The Capitals tried to hold on, and a defensive-zone mess allowed Nick Suzuki to tie it with 4:15 left on a shot into a wide-open net after goaltender Logan Thompson slid out to his right and was inadvertently knocked out of the crease by teammate Connor McMichael as he tried to keep the puck out.

Fortunately for them, Ovechkin scoring gave them a 1-0 series lead — Washington’s first playoff victory since May 7, 2022. Anthony Beauvillier had the other goal in regulation, and Thompson finished with 33 saves in his first NHL game action since getting injured when a shot dislodged his mask April 2 at Carolina.

At the other end of the ice, Sam Montembeault was arguably the Canadiens’ best player, stopping 29 of the 31 shots he faced in his Stanley Cup playoff debut.

Up next

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Washington before the series shifts to Montreal for Games 3 and 4 Friday and Sunday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl