Alex Ovechkin scored, but the Capitals lost their 5th game in a row to the Canadiens, 5-2.

WASHINGTON –

Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkowski each scored two goals as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Washington Capitals for the fifth straight time, 5-2, on Tuesday night as Alex Ovechkin scored his 10th goal of the season and 832nd of his NHL career.

Astana managed to score three goals before Ovechkin scored in six minutes of the second period. They tilted the ice toward Montreal goaltender Samuel Montembo for long stretches, but were unable to snap out of each team's first game since the All-Star break.

Suzuki's two goals in a span of 57 seconds came early in the game, and Charlie Lindgren's night was over when Michael Pezzetta scored at 13:07. Lindgren had three goals on nine shots before being replaced by Darcy Kuemper, but was not guilty of any of them. The first came from a shift, the second from a bounce off the right post, and the third after a team-mate lost his edge and went down in the corner.

It didn't help that the Capitals had three shots on net while the Canadians had three goals. Ovechkin's goal brought Washington to life, leading to a 16-5 shot advantage in the second period, but not another quick goal to put pressure on Montreal.

Instead, Slafkowski, the Canadiens' No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft, scored twice in the third period, setting up Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin's second goal of the season. Montembo made 36 saves for his 12th win.

Kuemper allowed Slafkowski to score and made 15 saves in a bad-time loss for the Capitals, who have a killer streak going into the week ahead. Their next four opponents – Florida and Boston on the road and Vancouver and Colorado at home – are the top four teams in the league.

They lost a key player in their longest losing streak of the season after Yevgeny Kuznetsov entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program on Monday. Kuznetsov will be out of the team indefinitely while undergoing treatment and will only be able to return after approval by program administrators.

NEXT

Canadiens: Host Dallas on Saturday.

Capitals: Visit the Panthers on Thursday night.