Canadiens 3, Capitals 2

On a night in which the NHL's two-time reigning MVP didn't take a shot on goal, the Montreal Canadiens took advantage by upsetting the league's top-seeded team in overtime.

Tomas Plekanec scored 13:19 into the extra period Thursday as the eighth-seeded Canadiens beat Washington and - even more amazingly - turned Alex Ovechkin a non-factor.

Plekanec traded gibes this week with Washington goalie Jose Theodore, who ended up essentially saying that Plekanec was no Jaromir Jagr. Plekanec got the last word by taking the puck near the red line, skating into the offensive zone and scoring on a drive from high in the slot that beat Theodore to the stick side.

Mike Cammalleri scored for Montreal on a power play in the first period, and Scott Gomez tied it at 2 with 12:26 to play in regulation. Jaroslav Halak stopped 36 shots.

Joe Corvo had a first-period goal, and Nicklas Backstrom scored early in the third for the Capitals, whose top-rated power play went 0-for-4. Jose Theodore made 44 saves.

Game 2 is Saturday night in Washington.

Ovechkin scored 50 goals in the regular season and took an NHL-high 368 shots, but he said Thursday morning he might be "a little bit nervous and a little bit shaky" in his third go-round in the playoffs. Maybe that caused him and his teammates to use up all their energy in the first period - because the Capitals controlled the flow of play early, then looked exhausted as the game wore on.

It didn't help that Ovechkin was shadowed most everywhere he went by defenseman Jaroslav Spacek. Ovechkin had five shot attempts blocked. The Capitals played at their preferred up-and-down pace for a little more than a period - and the Canadians controlled the rest of the game.

The Capitals had their best season in franchise history and won the Presidents' Trophy for the first time, while the Canadiens didn't secure a playoff berth until the next-to-last day. Washington had 313 goals, the most by a team since 1995-96. It also led the NHL with 213 5-on-5 goals, while Montreal was last with 132.

Sure enough, the Capitals were outshooting the Canadiens 7-0 after 6 minutes, and Ovechkin was throwing himself about the ice.

But the Canadiens' power play was solid - ranking second only behind the Capitals' - and it paid off after Backstrom took an unwise retaliation penalty for cross-checking Spacek in clear view in front of the net midway through the first period.

Twenty-five seconds later, Cammalleri took Andrei Markov's pass and beat Theodore stick side with a drive from the right circle.

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