Connor McMichael and Dylan Strome scored a minute apart early in the second period, Logan Thompson made some spectacular stops among his 25 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Wednesday night in Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series.

Thompson was at his best in the third, notably robbing Josh Anderson of what would have been the tying goal on a 2-on-0 breakaway with 10:59 left, then later getting his stick on a deflection by Christian Dvorak. Fans chanted “L-T! L-T!” and gave the goaltender a standing ovation in honor of his performance in just his second game back from injury.

Until that point, Thompson did not have much work to do as his teammates outshot Montreal 18-8 in the second when Washington tilted the ice toward Sam Montembeault. McMichael added his second into an empty net with 1.1 seconds left.

McMichael and Strome scoring turned the tide in favor of the Capitals, who after an uneven start looked every bit like the top team in the Eastern Conference and one of the best in the NHL this season.

They controlled the puck for long stretches and got to the middle of the ice in front of Montembeault easily and with little resistance from a smaller and less experienced opponent.

Montembeault, like in Game 1, was arguably the Canadiens’ best player, turning aside 29 of the 31 shots he faced, including Anthony Beauvillier on a quality scoring chance in the first and Nic Dowd on a shorthanded odd-man rush in the second.

Bruins will begin a coaching search

The Boston Bruins said that they will begin the search for a new head coach, with interim Joe Sacco a candidate to stay on the job he took over when Jim Montgomery was fired 20 games into the season.

“He’s aware that we’re going to have a coaching search,” general manager Don Sweeney said at the team’s management media availability, a week after the Bruins finished the season without a playoff berth for the first time since 2016. “He’s aware that he’ll be part of the final group of coaches that we get down to, because I think he’s earned and deserves that.”

Sacco finished with a 25-30-7 record after replacing Montgomery on Nov. 19.