Music: {allcanada} CAPITALS (25-14-9) at CANADIENS (31-13-3)

Friday, January 30, 2015

{allcanada} CAPITALS (25-14-9) at CANADIENS (31-13-3)

Saturday, January 31, 2015

1:00 PM ET

CAPITALS (25-14-9) at CANADIENS (31-13-3)

TV: NHLN-US, SN, CSN-DC, RDS

Season series: Brendan Gallagher scored in the fifth round of a shootout and the Montreal Canadiens won 2-1 in the Washington Capitals season opener. Tomas Plekanec scored with 9:29 left in regulation to force overtime for Montreal. Rookie Andre Burakovsky scored his first NHL goal for Washington.

Capitals team scope: There are 10 teams with 60 or more points; Washington faces two of them on consecutive days in Montreal (65) and the St. Louis Blues (64). "Montreal's near the top of our conference and St. Louis is close to the top in the West. Good challenges, measuring sticks for us," defenseman Matt Niskanen said Friday. Alex Ovechkin leads the NHL with 29 goals and has seven in the past six games. His next goal will give him 30 for the 10th consecutive season. Ovechkin is tied for the League lead in power-play goals (13) and game-winning goals (six), and his 230 shots are 35 more than Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars for first. Ovechkin scored twice in a 4-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday that ended a four-game losing streak.

Canadiens team scope: Carey Price, fresh off his 28th career shutout in a 1-0 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, will get the start, Montreal confirmed Friday via its official Twitter account. Price has won his first two starts out of the All-Star break, making 64 saves on 66 shots (.970 save percentage). This is the start of a four-game homestand for the Canadiens, including a traditional back-to-back matinee set over Super Bowl weekend. "It's an adjustment for the guys, but it's the same for both teams," coach Michel Therrien said about the early start times. Therrien didn't say if Dustin Tokarski would start Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes, but commended the relationship between his goaltenders. "There's no better model for Dustin Tokarski than Carey Price," he said.

Team Stats