Canadiens take out Capitals in OT

WASHINGTON — On a night the league's two-time reigning MVP didn't take a shot on goal, the Canadiens took advantage.

Tomas Plekanec scored 13:19 into overtime Thursday as the Canadiens beat the Capitals 3-2 in the opener of their East first-round playoff series and turned Alex Ovechkin into a nonfactor.

It was Plekanec who traded jabs this week with Washington goalie Jose Theodore. Plekanec basically said Theodore was no Martin Brodeur or Ryan Miller, and Theodore shot back that Plekanec wasn't exactly former scoring champion Jaromir Jagr. To add to the fun, Plekanec's jersey number on the grease board in the locker room was listed as Jagr's 68 instead of Plekanec's 14.

In overtime, Plekanec took the puck near the red line, skated into the offensive zone and scored on a drive from high in the slot that beat Theodore to the stick side.

"There was a couple of jokes thrown at (Plekanec) after the game," said Mike Cammalleri, who also scored for Montreal.

But the game's most notable development was the blank sheet of Ovechkin, who scored 50 goals in the regular season and took a league-high 368 shots. "They gapped up real well on him, but I don't think Alex played very well," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Our best players weren't our best players … and their best players were."

First Period—1, Montreal, Cammalleri 1 (Markov, A.Kostitsyn), 12:36 (pp). 2, Washington, Corvo 1 (Belanger, Chimera), 15:33. Penalties—Bergeron, Mon (hooking), :52; Semin, Was (hooking), 6:01; Backstrom, Was (cross-checking), 12:11; Pouliot, Mon (charging), 12:53.

Second Period—None. Penalties—Montreal bench, served by Pouliot (too many men), 8:34; Corvo, Was (holding), 18:19.

Third Period—3, Washington, Backstrom 1 (Knuble, Carlson), :47. 4, Montreal, Gomez 1 (Gionta, Pouliot), 7:34. Penalties—Moen, Mon (boarding), 10:42; Green, Was (delay of game), 19:33. First Overtime—5, Montreal, Plekanec 1 (Spacek), 13:19. Penalties—None. Shots on Goal—Montreal 7-13-8-10—38. Washington 19-8-14-6—47. Power-play opportunities—Montreal 1 of 4; Washington 0 of 4. Goalies—Montreal, Halak 1-0-0 (47 shots-45 saves). Washington, Theodore 0-1-0 (38-35). A—18,377 (18,277).

First Period—1, Buffalo, Vanek 1 (Roy), 4:52. Penalties—Chara, Bos (cross-checking, roughing), 15:14; Lucic, Bos, double minor (roughing), 15:14; Lydman, Buf (roughing), 15:14; Torres, Buf (roughing), 15:14; Montador, Buf (roughing), 15:14; Kaleta, Buf, misconduct, 15:14; McQuaid, Bos (hooking), 18:56.

Second Period—2, Boston, Recchi 1 (Chara, Hunwick), 9:30 (pp). 3, Buffalo, Rivet 1 (Kennedy), 14:10. Penalties—Lydman, Buf (cross-checking), 8:44; Vanek, Buf (tripping), 16:28.

Third Period—None. Penalties—Recchi, Bos (roughing), 9:18; Pominville, Buf (high-sticking), 9:18; Wideman, Bos (tripping), 13:20; Satan, Bos (delay of game), 15:40; Chara, Bos (hooking), 19:53. Shots on Goal—Boston 9-24-6—39. Buffalo 12-8-12—32. Power-play opportunities—Boston 1 of 2; Buffalo 0 of 5. Goalies—Boston, Rask 0-1-0 (32 shots-30 saves). Buffalo, Miller 1-0-0 (39-38). A—18,690 (18,690).

First Period—None. Penalties—Halpern, LA (goaltender interference), 16:54; Alberts, Van (interference), 19:51. Second Period—1, L.A., Stoll 1 (Handzus, Kopitar), :54 (pp). 2, Vancouver, Samuelsson 1 (D.Sedin, Salo), 3:09 (pp). 3, Vancouver, D.Sedin 1 (H.Sedin), 8:31. 4, L.A., Modin 1 (Frolov, Brown), 13:06 (pp). Penalties—J.Johnson, LA (delay of game), 2:06; Doughty, LA (roughing), 11:09; Alberts, Van, major-game misconduct (boarding), 11:09; Burrows, Van (roughing), 11:09; Doughty, LA (holding), 15:39.

Third Period—None. Penalties—Williams, LA (high-sticking), 2:21. First Overtime—5, Vancouver, Samuelsson 2 (H.Sedin, Ehrhoff), 8:52. Penalties—None. Shots on Goal—L.A. 6-13-2-6—27. Vancouver 17-9-13-5—44. Power-play opportunities—L.A. 2 of 3; Vancouver 1 of 4. Goalies—L.A., Quick 0-1-0 (44 shots-41 saves). Vancouver, Luongo 1-0-0 (27-25). A—18,810 (18,630).

More playoff news: Senators wing Milan Michalek is done for the season because of a torn left knee ligament that requires surgery. … Sabres wing Jochen Hecht had surgery on his left pinkie finger and is out indefinitely.

Maple Leafs: Goalie Jonas Gustavsson signed a $2.7-million, two-year contract extension. In his just-concluded rookie season, Gustavsson, 25, had two heart surgeries and a groin injury before finishing 16-15-9 with a .902 save percentage and 2.87 goals-against average.

World championships: Lightning defenseman Mike Lundin was named to the U.S. team that will play next month in Germany. Lightning center Steven Stamkos and wing Steve Downie will play for Canada, Canadian's TSN network reported.

Times staff writer Damian Cristodero contributed to this report.