Canadies Top Capitals, NHL News

The Washington Capitals have been dominant for most of the season. Lately, though, the Eastern Conference leaders have been playing from behind. And, against the Montreal Canadiens, they couldn't pull off another comeback.

Alex Galchenyuk scored two goals, Mike Condon made 33 saves and the Canadiens topped the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals 4-3 on Wednesday night.

The Canadiens built a 3-0 lead and chased Capitals goalie Braden Holtby in the second period before holding on as Washington tallied two late goals.

"We played the best team in the league in their building," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. "They're really tough to play against, and the way that we came out gave us the confidence."

Brendan Gallagher and Tomas Fleischmann added goals for the Canadiens, who had lost four of five, and two previous meetings with Washington this season.

Trailing 4-1, the Capitals scored twice inside the final minutes, including Andre Burakovsky's goal with 2:53 remaining. Jason Chimera and Dmitri Orlov also scored for the President's Trophy front-runners, who entered 17-1-1 over their previous 19 home games.

Alex Ovechkin, the NHL leader with 39 goals, had one assist, but did not score for the first time in four games for Washington.

Wednesday, February 24 Scoreboard

Montreal 4, Washington 3

Boston 5, Pittsburgh 1

Colorado 4, San Jose 3 (SO)

Anaheim 1, Buffalo 0

Thursday, February 25 Schedule (All Times Central)

Minnesota at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.

New Jersey at Columbus, 6 p.m.

Carolina at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Arizona at Florida, 6:30 p.m.

NY Rangers at St. Louis, 7 p.m.

Nashville at Chicago, 7 p.m.

Winnipeg at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

NY Islanders at Calgary, 8 p.m.

Ottawa at Vancouver, 9 p.m.

Edmonton at Los Angeles, 9:30 p.m.