The Washington Capitals have been one of the worst teams in the NHL on the road this season. After a 3-1-0 homestand propelled them back into the Southeast Division lead at one point, the Caps headed back on the road, where they only had seven wins on the season.
That improved to eight Wednesday as Washington scored early and often as it held on for a 3-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
One night after being shutout 3-0 by the New York Islanders, the Caps reversed their misfortune by blanking the Habs by the same score behind Michal Neuvirth's 31 saves in his first start of 2012. Mathieu Perreault, Marcus Johansson and Alex Ovechkin scored as the Caps held a three-goal lead on the road for the first time in over two months. In fact, the Caps led the Habs for 46:45, more than they had in their previous 13 road games combined (45:12).
With the win, the Caps head to Raleigh Friday to face the Carolina Hurricanes for the second time this week at RBC Center.