Capitals 5, Canadiens 0: Captain Alex Ovechkin recorded a goal and an assist in his return from injury and Braden Holtby posted his ninth career shutout as visiting Washington halted its seven-game winless streak in emphatic fashion.

Defenseman John Erskine and Jay Beagle ended lengthy goal-scoring droughts, Casey Wellman scored hours after being recalled from the minors and blue-liner John Carlson also tallied for the Capitals, who scored fewer than two goals six times during their 0-5-2 slide. Martin Erat notched two assists and Holtby made 21 saves en route to his second blanking of the season.

Carey Price surrendered four goals on 26 shots before being relieved. Peter Budaj came on and stopped seven shots for the Canadiens, who have lost four in a row and five of six.

Ovechkin, who missed two contests with a lower-body injury, made a triumphant return as he snapped a scoreless tie 1:46 into the second period with his league-leading 36th goal, banking a loose puck off Price and into the net at the left post. Erskine slid a weak wrist shot from above the slot between the netminder's pads less than two minutes later to end a 39-game drought and Beagle completed a nifty tic-tac-toe passing play from alone on the right side of the crease at 6:21 for his first goal in 49 games and a 3-0 lead.

Carlson's turnaround shot from just inside the blue line caromed off Montreal defenseman Nathan Beaulieu's stick and in just 4:10 later, ending Price's night. Wellman, who was recalled from Hershey of the American Hockey League earlier in the day, converted a feed from Ovechkin during a 2-on-1 rush at 8:38 of the third to cap the scoring.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Capitals C Mikhail Grabovski, who began his career with Montreal, sat out with a lower-body injury suffered in Friday's loss. ... Montreal registered its first shot of the second period - and fourth of the game - with 7:15 remaining in the session, drawing a sarcastic ovation from the home crowd. It was outshot 27-9 over the first 40 minutes. ... Washington has won seven straight visits to Montreal while Holtby improved to 5-0-0 lifetime against the Canadiens.