Dramatic Overtime Victory For The Montreal Canadiens.

The Montreal Canadiens could not ask for a better result during game one of the series opposing them to the Washington Capitals. Tomas Plekanec closed the deal in overtime with a precise shot that goaltender Jose Theodore could not handle.

The Capitals did dominate the play early on as they outshot Montreal 19-7 during the first period. But goaltender Jaroslav Halak stood tall and allowed his team to go back to the locker room with a 1-1 tie. During that first period, Michael Cammalleri opened the score during a man advantage while Joe Corvo tied the game at 1 apiece late in the first frame.

The game momentum shifted during the second period as Montreal applied more pressure on Washington's defense with an effective fore checking. But without any tangible result, both teams went back to their rooms after two periods in a 1-1 tie.

The Capitals took advantage of a Canadiens' defensive collapse to take the lead by a goal during the first minute of the third period. Nicklas Backstrom did not miss his chance and scored his first goal of the series. But Scott Gomez tied the game at 2 when he completed a great passing play from Brian Gionta and Benoit Pouliot.

The Canadiens continued to apply pressure on their opponents in overtime until Tomas Plekanec scored the ultimate goal.

It was a different story for Alexander Ovechkin. The star forward was held in check by the Canadiens defense, blocking every shot from the russian star. Ovechkin finished the game without registering any shot on goal during game one.

The Canadiens' head coach Jacques Martin has to be very satisfied with the effort given by his players. The whole team pushed in the same direction, something we haven't seen very often this season.

Both teams will face again Saturday in Washington. The pressure of winning is on the Capitals' shoulders for game two of the series.

Final score: Montreal Canadiens 3 - Washington Capitals 2 (overtime) (Montreal leads the series by 1-0.)

(Picture: Tomas Plekanec, Canadian Press.)