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Gionta does it all as Habs get by Caps

Feb 2, 2011 - 4:29 AM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Brian Gionta scored twice in the second period and supplied the lone shootout goal, as the Montreal Canadiens edged the Washington Capitals, 3-2, at Verizon Center.

Gionta ended the first round of the shootout by scoring on a backhander, while Montreal goaltender Carey Price turned away Washington's trio of Nicklas Backstrom, Matt Hendricks and Alex Ovechkin.

"In the shootout, we had three great looks...but we didn't get the puck in the spots where we wanted them," said Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau.

Price made 14 of his 27 saves after the second period for the Canadiens, who snapped a two-game skid and improved to 4-1-2 over their last seven.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 36 shots for Washington, which has dropped three straight.

Mathieu Perreault and Mike Knuble put Washington ahead 2-0 with goals in the first period.

The Capitals got on the board when Perreault's shot from the left circle went through the pads of Price 2:29 into the contest. Knuble then converted a Mike Green pass for a power-play tally at 7:49.

Gionta trimmed the Habs' lead in half at 8:28 of the middle frame. The diminutive forward carried the puck down the right wing on an odd-man rush, drifted into the faceoff circle and let go a slap shot past Varlamov.

The Montreal captain struck again with 2:38 to play in the second period, taking a stretch pass from Tomas Plekanec and beating Varlamov on a breakaway.

"I thought we stuck with the game plan. I thought we worked hard and we're able to get a couple of goals in the second period," said Montreal head coach Jacques Martin.

Game Notes

Washington forward Matt Bradley played in his 600th career game...Canadiens defenseman James Wisniewski appeared in his 300th career game...Washington finished 1-for-3 on the power play, while Montreal was 0-for-6 with the man advantage.