Thompson dazzles late as the Capitals beat the Canadiens in Game 2 to take a 2-0 series lead

WASHINGTON AP Connor McMichael and Dylan Strome scored a minute apart early in the second period Logan Thompson made a few spectacular stops among his saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens - on Wednesday night in Encounter to take a - lead in the best-of-seven first-round series Thompson was at his best in the third notably robbing Josh Anderson of what would have been the tying goal on a -on- breakaway with left then later getting his stick on a deflection by Christian Dvorak Fans chanted L-T L-T and gave the goaltender a standing ovation in honor of his performance in just his second meeting back from injury Until that point Thompson did not have much work to do as his teammates outshot Montreal - in the second when Washington tilted the ice toward Sam Montembeault McMichael added his second into an empty net with seconds left McMichael and Strome scoring turned the tide in favor of the Capitals who after an uneven start looked every bit like the top organization in the Eastern Conference and one of the best in the NHL this season They controlled the puck for long stretches and got to the middle of the ice in front of Montembeault easily and with little resistance from a smaller and less experienced opponent Montembeault like in Challenge was arguably the Canadiens best sportsman turning aside of the shots he faced including Anthony Beauvillier on a quality scoring chance in the first and Nic Dowd on a shorthanded odd-man rush in the second Up next Event is Friday night in Montreal marking the return of playoff hockey with Bell Centre full of fans The last time that happened was because the Habs run to the Stanley Cup Final came when pandemic restrictions limited maximum to a crowd of AP NHL https apnews com hub nhl Source