Tomas Tatar had a goal with three assists and Phillip Danault recorded one with two helpers as the visiting Montreal Canadiens used a four-goal second period to win their third straight, 5-2, and end the Washington Capitals’ 13-game point streak on Friday night.
Shea Weber, Jordan Weal and Nick Suzuki also scored for the Canadiens, who have earned at least one point in five consecutive games (4-0-1) and are 7-1-1 in their last nine. Carey Price made 26 saves as Montreal outshot the hosts 40-28.
Alex Ovechkin scored his 14th on the power play and Evgeny Kuznetsov also delivered in the third period for Washington, but by that time it proved too late. The Capitals, who entered Friday an NHL-leading 32 points, were amid an 11-0-2 stretch before falling Friday.
Montreal outshot the Capitals 15-9 in the first period. However, the game was scoreless after 20 minutes as Washington backup goalie Ilya Samsonov (35 saves), starting this back-to-back situation, more than once came up with a big save.
Samsonov was sharp early in the second period before the Capitals gave up the puck in their own zone. Tatar corralled it and found Danault alone in front of the net, where he made a move on Samsonov before converting 6:22 into the period for a 1-0 lead. Weber struck less than three minutes later to make it 2-0. The veteran defenseman drove home a laser shot, from the top of the circle on the near board, over the shoulder of Samsonov with 10:44 to go in the second.
Montreal made it 3-0 while putting pressure in front of the Washington net, culminating with Weal getting a backhander past Samsonov with 8:19 to go in the middle period. The Canadiens then finished off some nifty passing with Suzuki’s deflected goal with 5:18 left in a nightmare second period for Washington. Ovechkin came through with his one-timer 5:34 into the third. Kuznetsov scored his ninth via a breakaway with 4:22 to go in regulation for Washington, which ended a 5-0-1 home stretch. Tatar added an empty-netter with 2:31 left for his seventh of the season.

Marchand’s two goals help Bruins down Leafs
Brad Marchand scored two goals in the third period and the visiting Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Friday night. Charlie Coyle added a goal and an assist and Zdeno Chara scored a goal for the Bruins, who ended a four-game losing streak.
Auston Matthews and Kasperi Kapanen scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost four in a row. Boston’s Tuukka Rask made 29 saves, and Toronto’s Frederik Andersen stopped 30 shots.
Marchand gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with a wrist shot only 11 seconds into the third period after going around a defenseman. Brandon Carlo and Patrice Bergeron earned assists.
The Maple Leafs tied the score 2-2 at 3:54 of the third when Kapanen scored his sixth goal from the edge of the net on a pass from John Tavares. Zach Hyman also had an assist.
The Bruins regained the lead at 5:08 of the third period when Marchand scored again, on a wrist shot off his own rebound. Coyle’s pass set up the chance. Chara scored his fourth goal, into an empty net at 18:27. Coyle scored his third goal, from the slot, at 13:48 of the first period. The goal was set up by Matt Grzelcyk, who circled behind the net before sending a pass in front. Anders Bjork earned the other assist. Toronto’s Trevor Moore left the game with a shoulder injury after a collision with Boston’s Chris Wagner early in the first period and did not return. The Maple Leafs tied it at 9:20 of the second period when Matthews deflected Jake Muzzin’s slap shot from the left point for his 14th goal. William Nylander earned the other assist.