MONTREAL (AP) Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson each scored twice and Nicklas Backstrom had four assists as the Washington Capitals defeated the Montreal Canadiens 6-4 on Saturday night.
Jay Beagle and T.J. Oshie also scored for Washington (44-24-7), which strengthened its grip on first place in the Metropolitan Division. Backstrom posted his 20th career game with at least four points and second this season.
Charles Hudon scored twice for Montreal (27-37-12), which was coming off a 3-0 win at Buffalo on Friday night. Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher each had a goal for the Canadiens, who are 2-8-2 in their last 12 games.
Gallagher’s goal was originally credited to Jonathan Drouin before being changed.
Canadiens goalie Carey Price struggled in his second start since returning from a concussion as Washington outshot Montreal 30-21.
Jacob de la Rose provided the forecheck that sent Galchenyuk in alone to deke Philipp Grubauer 8:35 into the game. Gallagher added another a minute later but had it called back after an offside review.
The setback seemed to knock the air out of Montreal, and the Capitals jumped on the Canadiens for three goals before the end of the period.
Kuznetsov, back after missing three games with an upper-body injury, scored on a wrist shot from the right circle on a power play at 11:11. Price made a soft pass from behind his net that was picked off by Backstrom and fed to Wilson to score from the slot at 14:49.
Wilson was fed alone in front again to score on a high shot at 18:11, giving the Capitals three goals on their first nine shots.
A Washington power play had just ended when Beagle tipped in Dmitry Orlov’s point shot 4:52 into the second.
Montreal got it back with two seconds left in the period when Hudon redirected Jordie Benn’s shot from 10 feet in front of Grubauer.
Kuznetsov was parked at the side of the net to tip in Backstrom’s pass on a power play 1:10 into the third period. Capitals defenseman Jakub Jerabek, who started the season in Montreal, saw his high shot tipped past Price by Oshie at 4:52.
Hudon was credited with his 10th of the season at 9:28 when his shot through traffic from the left side looked as if it may have gone in off Nikita Scherbak’s hip at the side of the net. Drouin took a shot on a power play with 1:57 left to play that Gallagher appeared to tip in while standing just outside the crease.
NOTES: The Canadiens signed 20-year-old free-agent forward Hayden Verbeek of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds to a three-year contract starting next season. He is the nephew of former NHL player Pat Verbeek.
UP NEXT
Capitals: At the New York Rangers on Monday night.
Canadiens: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night.
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More NHL hockey: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey
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