📸: pennybacker from #crashers
The Washington Capitals were a mess as they hosted the tired Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night, but with the heroic efforts of one Nebraskan they secured a win they dearly needed.
Just as the Capitals began their first power play, Josh Anderson scored a shorthanded goal, the one score of the first period.
Brendan Gallagher doubled Montreal’s lead thanks to a crisp pass from Philip Danault.
Matt Roy unleashed an outside shot that Ethen Frank grazed to break the shutout. Frank did it again with two minutes left, a dramatic redirect from the slot.
Connor McMichael slam-dunked it overtime.
Caps win 3-2!
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With his first deflection, Ethen Frank is on three-game goal streak. With his second deflection, Frank has been Washington’s best player over the last week.
This was a scheduled loss for Montreal, who beat Vancouver 6-3 last night before arriving in DC well after midnight. But they started the game with a high-danger chance and a rung post before Josh Anderson’s shorty.
The Caps have allowed six shorthanded goals, which would be a not great number on 82 games. After just 47 games, it sucks.
There’s a couple ways to measure power-play effectiveness. Goals divided by opportunities is a good one. A better one is (goals minus shorties) divided by opportunities. Check me on this, but I think Caps are now dead last by that measurement.
Dylan McIlrath landed a huge hit on Jayden Struble, which Arber Xhekaj could not abide. Those two big boys dropped gloves so they could waltz and foxtrot for a moment. Then McIlrath lost his footing and Xhekaj started doing those little MMA punches.
From the DataDyne out-of-town scoreboard, St Louis has extended Logan Mailloux for one year. The Blues have been outscored 29 to 8 during his five-on-five shifts.
Martin Fehervary had one bad shift in an otherwise solid night. He coughed up the puck to give Texier a scoring chance, then handed the Habs a power play with a trip. I’m picking on him though; he was good otherwise.
The Capitals’ offense vanished in the second period. Three shots on goal during five-on-five, nothing with high danger. The back ten of that period were dead.
Nic Dowd got ejected for excessive sauciness after getting busted for holding late in the third.
Out: Chychrun, Wilson, Dubois, Sourdif. The Caps are baaaaaaanged up.
Pound for pound, the Montreal Canadiens have the best names in the league. Xhekaj. Show that word to a pal and ask them to pronounce it. Suzuki! Texier! They’ve got two x‘s and z in just those three. Demidov? Not just a great name – a great player.
#joebsuitofthenight
— RMNB (@rmnb.bsky.social) 2026-01-13T23:59:05.848Z
That was the kind of game you’re supposed to win. That they did so isn’t a big deal. How they did so – okay, that was pretty fun.
Doesn’t excuse that yucky power play though.
The Capitals will host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. Before then someone is going to say the Sharks are actually, secretly good this season. They are not, but as the Caps proved on Tuesday, on any given night they can almost lose to anyone!