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Caps top Habs in SO

Nov 30, 2013 - 2:44 AM Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) - Mikhail Grabovski scored the winner in the fourth round of the shootout as the Washington Capitals took a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday.

In the fourth round, Grabovski faked a slap shot then snuck the puck between the pads of Peter Budaj. Braden Holtby then poke-checked the puck away from Tomas Plekanec for the win.

Grabovski and Eric Fehr each posted a goal and an assist, while Holtby turned away 35 shots for the Capitals, who snapped a four-game slide.

"It's huge for us right now. Maybe it was not our best game, but we spend lots of time in the offensive zone," Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin said. "Of course we make a couple mistakes, but right now, it's two points and we'll take it."

Plekanec had a goal and an assist, and Danny Briere lit the lamp for the Canadiens, who had a four-game winning streak stopped. Budaj made 24 stops in the loss.

"I thought we were the team that dictated the game in the third [period]. I thought we played well enough to win the game, so I'm disappointed that we came up short, but I believe our effort was there and when you go to a shootout, you never know. We found a way to score two goals but it was not good enough," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said.

With Montreal holding a one-goal lead late in the third, the Caps tied the game as Fehr sent a pass from the left corner that hit off a Hab and went to Grabovski, who swept the puck in from the slot with 5:32 left.

The first goal of the game went to Montreal, as Briere got the puck behind the net and wrapped it in from the left side at 15:20 of the first period.

Washington tied the game at 5:17 of the second period as Budaj misplayed the puck behind the net, with Grabovski getting it out front and Fehr putting the puck into the empty-net.

Montreal, though, took a 2-1 lead just 1:07 later on a 3-on-1 break as Plekanec skated it in down the right wing before centering it for Brian Gionta, whose shot was stopped but Plekanec stuffed in the rebound for his eighth of the year.

Game Notes

Washington forward Brooks Laich was out with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day ... Washington plays in New York against the Islanders on Saturday ... Montreal hosts Toronto on Saturday ... Montreal took a 3-2 win in Washington last Friday ... Montreal was 0-for-2 on the power play while Washington failed on its four chances.