Moen, Plekanec and Cammalleri score in 3-2 win

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WASHINGTON - Travis Moen and Tomas Plekanec scored in a three-minute span early in the second period and Michael Cammalleri added a goal in the third as the Montreal Canadiens withstood a furious comeback to beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 last night.

Enlarge Photo

The Associated Press

Washington Capitals' Brian Pothier (2) moves the puck as Montreal Canadiens' Jaroslav Spacek (6) and Max Pacioretty (67) defend during the first period last night in Washington.

Montreal led 3-1, but Brendan Morrison scored with 2:32 remaining to pull Washington within a goal.

Then Maxim Lapierre was whistled for hooking with 1:52 to play, giving the Capitals a power play through the end of regulation.

Washington pulled its goalie with a minute to play, one of the Canadiens players lost his stick, and the Capitals held siege in the offensive zone. But the closest they got to tying the game came when Mike Green's drive hit the right post with less than 25 seconds left.

Carey Price made 32 saves for the Canadiens, who won for only the third time in nine road games despite getting outshot 27-8 over the last two periods.

Eric Fehr scored in the first period for the Capitals, who couldn't complain about a lack of chances.

The puck seemed to flutter in front of the Montreal net for much of the game, but Alex Ovechkin and his teammates weren't able to finish.

With veteran goalie Jose Theodore dealing with personal issues and youngster Semyon Varlamov getting a day off in the first half of a back-to-back, Michal Neuvirth made his season debut for Washington and finished with 19 saves.

The Capitals were also missing Alexander Semin, who has nine goals on the season. He sat out a second straight game because of an injured right wrist.

Washington took the early lead when Fehr beat Price glove-side through traffic from the left circle, but the Canadiens came back with a pair of goals in the second.

Moen tied it when he redirected Roman Hamrlik's drive from the blue-line, and Plekanec made it 2-1 with a close-range shot that appeared to hit Morrison's hand and then trickled through Neuvirth's legs.

Montreal recorded only four shots in the second period, but two found the net.

In other NHL action:

Panthers 2 Red Wings 1 (OT)

At Detroit, Bryan McCabe's goal 40 seconds into overtime gave Florida a win over the Red Wings.

Bruins 2 Sabres 1 (OT)

At Buffalo, N.Y., Patrice Bergeron scored 47 seconds into overtime, lifting Boston past the Sabres.

Wild 3 Islanders 2

At St. Paul, Minn., Owen Nolan's second goal of the game with 67 seconds left in the third pushed the struggling Wild past the New York Islanders.