WASHINGTON — Hunched over, head bowed, his stick resting across his knees, Alex Ovechkin skated alone down the ice, stung by yet another Game 7 loss by his Washington Capitals.

At the other end of the rink stood Montreal Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak, his arms raised in triumph, his teammates pounding him on the helmet, on the back, everywhere.

With Halak making 41 saves in his latest spectacular, acrobatic performance, and his teammates combining to block a whopping 41 shots, eighth-seeded Montreal held on to beat Washington, 2-1, last night, stunning the Presidents' Trophy winners by reeling off three consecutive victories to take the first-round series.

"I'm in shock right now. I don't know what to say," Ovechkin said, his voice low, his eyes staring at the floor of the locker room. "It was great going up 3-1 in the series. But it's only one step. We didn't do it."

The NHL's two-time MVP has played in four career playoff series, and each went to a Game 7. Ovechkin and the Capitals are 1-3 in those deciding contests.

"Before the series started, no one gave us a chance to win, not even one game," said Halak, who stopped 131 of Washington's 134 shots in Games 5-7. "We proved (to) them they were wrong."

MONTREAL 1 0 1—2

WASHINGTON 0 0 1—1

First Period—1, Montreal, Bergeron 1 (Gomez, Markov), 19:30 (pp). Third Period—2, Montreal, Moore 2 (Gill), 16:24. 3, Washington, Laich 2 (Ovechkin, Backstrom), 17:44.

Shots on Goal—Montreal 8-3-5—16. Washington 11-13-18—42. Power-play opportunities—Montreal 1 of 3; Washington 0 of 3. Goalies—Montreal, Halak. Washington, Varlamov. A—18,377 (18,277). T—2:27.

PLAYOFF GLANCE

All Times Hawai'i

FIRST ROUND

(Best-of-7)

Yesterday

Montreal 2, Washington 1

Montreal wins series 4-3

CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

Today

Detroit at San Jose, 3 p.m.

Tomorrow

Montreal at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.

Saturday, May 1

Philadelphia at Boston, 6:30 a.m.

Vancouver at Chicago, 2 p.m.

Sunday, May 2

Montreal at Pittsburgh, 8 a.m.

Detroit at San Jose 2 p.m.

Monday, May 3

Philadelphia at Boston, 1 p.m.

Vancouver at Chicago, 3 p.m.

Tuesday, May 4

Pittsburgh at Montreal, 1 p.m.

San Jose at Detroit, 1:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 5

Boston at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.

Chicago at Vancouver, 3:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 6

Pittsburgh at Montreal, 1 p.m.

San Jose at Detroit, 1:30 p.m.

Friday, May 7

Boston at Philadelphia, 1 p.m.

Chicago at Vancouver, 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 8

x-Montreal at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.

x-Detroit at San Jose, 4 p.m.

Sunday, May 9

x-Vancouver at Chicago, 2 p.m.

Monday, May 10

x-Philadelphia at Boston, 1 p.m.

x-Pittsburgh at Montreal, 1 p.m.

x-San Jose at Detroit, 1:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 11

x-Chicago at Vancouver, 3:30 p.m.