José Théodore recorded his first shutout as a Capital, at the expense of some familiar faces. ) (Nick Wass/Associated PressJosé Théodore recorded his first shutout in a Washington Capitals uniform and Alexander Ovechkin extended his point streak to 10 games in a 3-0 win over the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Friday night.
Ovechkin, Tomas Fleischmann and David Steckel scored for Washington, while Théodore finished with 28 saves. The Capitals are 9-0-1 on home ice.
"I knew in the first period I was seeing the puck well," said Théodore. "Even if I didn't see a lot of shots early, I knew I would need a good shot to beat me."
It was just the second time Théodore had faced Montreal since being dealt from the Canadiens on March 8, 2006. As a member of the Colorado Avalanche, he allowed eight goals against the Habs in a game seven months after the big trade.
Montreal returns to action on Saturday, hosting Buffalo (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 6:30 p.m.). The Canadiens play 10 of their next 11 at home.
Washington won its second in a row despite dealing with a rash of injuries, including to key contributors Alexander Semin, Chris Clark, Mike Green and John Erskine.
Rookie Karl Alzner played over 20 minutes for the Capitals while minor league journeyman Bryan Helmer, 36, took a regular shift up front.
Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves for Montreal (12-6-4). The Canadiens have been defeated in Halak's last four starts, the goalie last winning on Oct. 20.
Montreal was coming off an impressive 3-1 win in Detroit on Wednesday but came out flat against the Capitals. The club is now 4-5-3 in its last dozen.
"Jaro, that's where I'm embarrassed," said Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said. "We come up with that kind of game, and that kind of effort … and I'm really sad for him.'
Franics Bouillon committed a terrible giveaway from behind his net to give Washington an early lead. For the second straight game, Fleischmann finished off a give-and-go with Michael Nylander for a goal.
Halak kept it a one-goal game by stopping Ovechkin in close and Viktor Kozlov on a two-on-one.
Théodore was hardly tested until a flurry of activity beginning midway through the second. He stopped Guillaume Latendresse and on the next sequence, defencemen Ryan O'Byrne and Roman Hamrlik.
His biggest test was a Chris Higgins deflection of a Hamrlik shot.
"The saves he made over a period of five minutes in the second period were pretty dazzling," said Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau.
Halak made some strong saves to begin the third, but Ovechkin took advantage of a gap between the goalie's pad and the post, stuffing it in at 3:42 of the period.
Ovechkin has 10 goals and 11 assists during his point streak.
Washington enjoyed a five-on-three advantage for over 100 seconds when Robert Lang and Andrei Markov took penalties in succession just over five minutes into the third.
While the Canadiens killed off the penalties, they remained on the defensive, with Steckel deflecting Sami Lepisto shot's high past Halak for a 3-0 score at 8:46.
Steve Begin had a couple of chances to get Montreal on the board late, but Théodore would not be beaten.
Théodore has 27 career shutouts, all but four of which came in a Canadiens uniform between 1998 and 2004.
Carbonneau thought the shutout had more to do with what his players didn't accomplish.
"He was lucky at some times," Carbonneau said. "He made the saves when he had to. We didn't really test him."
Boudreau, meanwhile, won on what was essentially his first anniversary as coach. He took over a 6-14-1 club on Thanksgiving last year and would go on to win the Jack Adams Trophy as top NHL coach by leading the Capitals into the playoffs.
Ovechkin has 30 points, tied for second in the NHL with Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh, Marc Savard of Boston and Philadelphia's Simon Gagne. Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins leads with 37 points.
With files from the Associated Press
