Ovechkin, Capitals look to stay hot vs. Canadiens (Feb 04, 2017)

MONTREAL -- Ever since the calendar flipped to the new year, coach Barry Trotz's club has looked like dominant Washington Capitals of old.

Sixteen games into 2017 and Alex Ovechkin and Co. are 13-2-1, regularly filling the net while also keeping the puck out of their own cage. The Capitals have been strong defensively all season and continue to be the stingiest team in the NHL, averaging just 2.12 goals against and allowing a mere 108 goals total.

Up front, the high-flying Capitals (34-11-6) are now fifth overall in the NHL, averaging 3.25 goals for per game; their overall total of 174 ranks third.

They'll bring that explosive attack into Saturday's matinee match-up against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

"It's always a challenge when you're facing elite talent," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. "We all know what Ovi is capable of. He's a scorer, a phenomenon. You look at the Capitals and they are a powerhouse hockey team. You can look at them from all angles, they don't have any weaknesses, whether in goal, on defense or up front. (Saturday) will definitely be a big challenge."

Back on Jan. 9, the Capitals skated away with a 4-1 win in the same building, on a night that Ovechkin tied Maurice Richard with his 544th career goal.

There could be another milestone with a Montreal connection for the visitors on Saturday. With a win, Trotz will move past Dick Irvin, Sr., who spent a Canadiens' franchise-record 15 years behind the bench, for sixth on the NHL's all-time coaching list.

Depth has been key to Washington's success and lately, the team seems to have found a strong third unit with former Canadiens center Lars Eller in between Brett Connolly and Andre Burakovsky. Connolly, the sixth overall pick by Tampa Bay in 2010, scored his ninth goal of the season in Wednesday's 5-3 win against the Boston Bruins. Five of his tallies have come in the last month.

"He's playing and skating really well," Trotz told reporters in Washington. "He's got hockey IQ he can make plays, he's got a great release. There's a lot of things to like about Brett's game. It took him a while to assimilate to our organization (but now) he has."

The Canadiens, meanwhile, are healthier than the last time the two teams met, with only one player (Brendan Gallagher) on injured reserve. But since that last meeting, Montreal (30-15-7) has struggled to string wins together and has earned consecutive points just once since then.

The trend continued with Thursday night's 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, in which the Canadiens mustered a season-low 16 shots on goal.

On an individual front, things couldn't be going better for Max Pacioretty. The Canadiens captain recorded a hat trick on Tuesday, putting him on pace for 39 goals on the season. This, despite only scoring five goals in all of October and November.

Health has been key -- he played with a hairline fracture in his foot in November -- but so too has his chemistry with linemate Alexander Radulov. The skilled winger has been a multi-point man of late, with at least two points in three of his last six games. He leads the Canadiens will 11 multi-point games this season.

"He's an exceptional talent. He's a star player," said Trotz, who got a first-hand look at the winger as his coach in Nashville. "He's very gifted. He's one of the best passers you're going to see. He's got great courage, he'll take the puck to the blue paint. He's got great vision, he's got a great set of hands, and he's got a little bit of bite to him, too. He'll go in the corner and sort of reverse-check you, and stuff like that. He's a good hockey player. He's very, very smart."

Carey Price will get the start for the Canadiens while Washington is expected to counter with Braden Holtby.