MONTREAL — Jakub Vrana had a goal and an assist as the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 Monday night for their fourth straight win.
Tom Wilson, Travis Boyd and Nicklas Backstrom also scored for the Capitals, and T.J. Oshie had two assists. Washington, 7-1-0 in its last eight games at Bell Centre, was without star forward Alex Ovechkin while he missed his first game this season to serve a one-game suspension for skipping the All-Star Game.
Braden Holtby made 31 saves and improved to 14-2-2 in his career against Montreal.
Jeff Petry and Dale Weise scored for the Canadiens, who began the night 10 points out of a playoff spot.