Capitals score late to win Game 4, take stranglehold on Canadiens

The Washington Capitals completed the comeback against Montreal on Sunday with a 5-2 victory in Game 4 to push the Canadiens to the edge of elimination.

Andrew Mangiapane scored the winner with under four minutes left, while forward Brandon Duhaime and bruiser Tom Wilson sealed the deal with a pair of empty-netters, bringing the series to 3-1.

Washington has lost five best-of-seven series in franchise history when leading 3-1, the most by any NHL team, according to Sportsnet Stats. Montreal erased a 3-1 first-round deficit against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021.

Capitals forward Dylan Strome opened the scoring in the second period on Sunday, but the Habs snagged the lead thanks to power-play goals from Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield.

Montreal held on to that advantage until Duhaime potted the equalizer with his first goal of the game before the midway mark of the final frame. Wilson set the tone right before Duhaime scored, unleashing a massive hit on Canadiens defenseman Alexandre Carrier.

Carrier initially remained on the bench but eventually went down the tunnel and didn't return.

"Obviously, playoffs are extremely physical," Wilson told NHL on TNT about his play. "They're hitting, we're hitting, you get hit, you give hits. Last couple games, I spent a lot of time in the box. Coming into this one, I just wanted to play between the whistles, play hard."

Wilson racked up 12 penalty minutes in Game 3 but stayed out of the box on Sunday.

Canadiens netminder Jakub Dobes was expecting a stoppage in play after the massive hit on Carrier.

"I felt like it should've been a whistle," he said, per Sportsnet. "It was kind of a scary hit, but I guess the rules don't apply for everyone in this league. I have no idea."

Habs head coach Martin St. Louis also expressed some concern with the officiating.

"I don't know," he said. "It's hard. I'll be careful with my words, but it's hard to watch some of these calls. To me, tonight, one of the mandates (from the NHL) was about embellishing tonight."

"(General manager Kent Hughes) talks with the supervisor each game day," St. Louis added, per The Associated Press. "We are told the things they want to clean up. Embellishment was one of them."

The Capitals had five power plays - including a five-on-three - and failed to convert on any of them, while Montreal went two-for-four.

Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson made 16 saves on 18 shots after departing the last contest with an injury. At the other end of the ice, rookie Dobes turned aside 21 out of 24 shots in his first playoff start.

Usual starter Sam Montembeault is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.

Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday in D.C. at 7 p.m. ET.