CANADIANS TRUMP CAPITALS

Tomas Plekanec scored 13 minutes 19 seconds into overtime to give the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 victory over the top-seeded Capitals on Thursday night in Washington in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series. Plekanec traded gibes this week with Washington goalie Jose Theodore, who essentially said that Plekanec was no Jaromir Jagr. Plekanec got the last word by taking the puck near the red line, skating into the offensive zone and scoring on a drive from high in the slot that beat Theodore to the stick side. Theodore laughed off the back-and-forth between the two, as well as the fact that he gave up the deciding goal to the player he needled. “It was just to set up the mood for the playoffs,” Theodore said. “Tomas is a great player.” Alex Ovechkin, who scored 50 goals in the regular season and took an N.H.L.-high 368 shots, did not have a shot on goal and had five shot attempts blocked. He was shadowed most everywhere by defenseman Jaroslav Spacek. Mike Cammalleri scored on a first-period power play for Montreal, and Scott Gomez tied the score at 12:26 of the third period. Jaroslav Halak had 36 saves. Joe Corvo scored in the first period and Nicklas Backstrom early in the third period for the Capitals. Theodore had 44 saves.