Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) keeps an eye on the puck as Canadiens' Josh Anderson (17) defends against Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin (8) in front of the net during first period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

By The Canadian Press

Ovechkin nets hat trick in 8-4 win, Capitals hand Canadiens fifth straight loss

Nov 20, 2025 | 7:54 PM

MONTREAL — Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick to reach 907 goals in his career, and the Washington Capitals beat Montreal 8-4 on Thursday to hand the Canadiens their fifth straight loss.

Ethen Frank had two goals and two assists, Sonny Milano scored twice and Jakob Chychrun also scored as Washington (11-8-2) won its third straight.

Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves and Dylan Strome had three assists for the Capitals, who ousted the Canadiens in the first round of last season’s playoffs.

Ovechkin, who added an assist, passed Joe Sakic for 10th all-time in points with 1,643.

Brendan Gallagher and Joe Veleno both tallied their first goals of the season while Nick Suzuki and Mike Matheson also scored for Montreal (10-7-3), which lost for the seventh time in eight games. Gallagher and Matheson each added an assist.

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Sam Montembeault was pulled after allowing three goals on 10 shots as his struggles in net continued for the Canadiens. Jakub Dobes entered 3:38 into the second period and stopped 20 of 25 shots.

Ovechkin opened the scoring a minute into the game with a power-play goal, firing a wrist shot past Montembeault off a faceoff.

After Gallagher replied at 15:47, the Capitals built a 3-1 lead with two goals from Frank in a span of 1:38 early in a six-goal second period. Chychrun made it 4-2 with a slap shot at 14:26 after Capitals bruiser Tom Wilson’s hard hit on centre Jake Evans, who was later ruled out for the rest of the game.

Matheson cut Washington’s lead to 5-4 five minutes into the third period after Suzuki and Milano traded goals.

The Canadiens pushed for an equalizer — coming close on a chance from Jayden Struble late in the game — but Ovechkin scored his second of the night on a 2-on-1 with 3:57 remaining to make it 6-4 before adding an empty-net goal.

TAKEAWAYS

Capitals: Frank scored his first and second goals of the season in his 10th game. The 27-year-old American spent most of his last three seasons in the American Hockey League.

Canadiens: The hits keep coming. Beyond Evans, an important penalty killer for Montreal, the Canadiens are already without injured forwards Alex Newhook, Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine, and defenceman Kaiden Guhle (torn adductor).

KEY MOMENT

In a déjà vu moment, Wilson’s big hit led directly to a big goal. The six-foot-four winger’s open-ice check on Alexandre Carrier led to a pivotal goal in Washington’s Game 4 win over Montreal last season at the Bell Centre.

KEY STAT

Ovechkin scored for the fourth consecutive game to match the longest goal streak by a player aged 40 or older, tying Jaromir Jagr (2013) and Dean Prentice (1972).

UP NEXT

Canadiens: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Capitals: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2025.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press