Washington, DC-It's Turn Back the Clock night here at Verizon Center and prior to puck drop the Washington Capitals honored legendary winger Dino Ciccarelli with a rousing pregame ceremony. Then, they set their sights on the Montreal Canadians.
Minus Eric Fehr, Tom Poti, and Alex Semin due to injuries, the Capitals still managed to storm out of the gates with a pair of early goals. Mathieu Perreault, goaless since Dec. 26th, lit the lamp 2:29 into the game, beating Montreal goaltender Carey Price from the left circle.
Price had little time to recover as the Caps went right to power play several minutes later. The man advantage finally snapped out of its slump as Mike Knuble scored on a beautiful pass from Mike Green to make it 2-0.
Green dangled his way past a Montreal defender and sent a crisp pass over to Knuble who put it past a helpless Price. It was Washington's fourth power play goal since the New Year.
Semyon Varlamov has been impressive, stopping all 11 shots against him while anchoring two solid penalty kills. He made several tough kick-out saves and a continuation of this performance will make it difficult for the Canadiens to overcome a two-goal deficit.