February 27, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, United States; Washington Capitals left winger Pierre-Luc Dubois (80) cheers with teammates after scoring a goal against the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the second period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Image Pierre-Luc Dubois will look to continue his impressive return from injury when the Washington Capitals visit the Montreal Canadiens in a battle of Eastern Conference playoff contenders on Saturday night.
Dubois had two goals and an assist in the Capitals’ 3-2 win over the visiting Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night.
The win puts the Capitals within two points of the Boston Bruins for the second wild card spot in the East. First place is held by Montreal, four points ahead of Washington with three games remaining.
Following goals by Dubois and defenseman Jakob Chychrun, the Capitals led 3-0 after two periods. Vegas bounced back in the third period, making several key stops by Logan Thompson in the final minutes to preserve the win.
“We’re probably the best third period team in the league,” said Thompson, who made 24 saves.
“We weathered the storm and were happy to be able to hold on in the end once again. It’s (a) huge confidence boost for this group. Every bit counts right now.”
Dubois has three goals and two assists in three games since returning after missing 47 games due to surgery.
Chychrun leads all NHL defensemen with 22 goals.
Aliaksei Protas and Rasmus Sandin had two assists on Friday.
“It’s clear we haven’t achieved our goal. We haven’t even made it to the play-offs (place). We have to keep pushing and fighting. Our focus is obviously on the next game, but I think we have a long way to go,” Protas said.
Washington won despite going 0-for-5 on the power play. The Capitals are 23-2 with a man advantage over their last seven games.
Montreal has won six straight games (4-0-2) but is lamenting a loss Thursday night. The New York Islanders tied the score with 1 minute, 41 seconds left in the third quarter by picking off a goalie, then won 4-3 in overtime.
The Canadiens never trailed in the game until the final goal.
Defenseman Noah Dobson scored twice against his former team and Sam Montembeault made 22 saves for Montreal.
“It’s a shame we didn’t win,” Dobson said. “I felt we didn’t play well when we were on top. We allowed them to get back in the game. We want to finish it. It’s about making a run to the finish. Every game is important. No matter who you play. That’s my mindset.”
Captain Nick Suzuki, who competed for Canada at the Olympics, hit six shots.
“Obviously there were plays and mishandled pucks that you wanted to get back,” Suzuki said. “But some people haven’t played much hockey in a few weeks.
“We probably could have scored several goals. It’s just frustrating that one of them didn’t go in. It probably could have changed the game for us.”
Washington won the teams’ first two meetings.
On November 20 in Montreal, captain Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick in the Capitals’ 8-4 win.
Connor McMichael scored 4:21 into overtime in the Capitals’ 3-2 win over the visiting Canadiens on Jan. 13.
–Field level media
