The Washington Capitals held off the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena, with winger Alex Tuch scoring twice and adding an assist to snap Washington's two-game losing skid. The game doubled as a family milestone: Capitals rookie defenseman Cole Hutson and Montreal star blueliner Lane Hutson, brothers, played against each other in the NHL for the first time in their careers.

Montreal struck first when Josh Anderson buried a feed from Alex Newhook just under five minutes in. Jordan Kyrou answered for Washington soon after, and Lane Hutson put the Canadiens back ahead with a shot from the slot, with younger brother Cole on the ice for Washington. Ivan Miroshnichenko tied it again with 25 seconds left in the first period on the power play, his first goal of the season.

Tuch gave Washington its first lead with a shorthanded goal 6:16 into the second period, only for Anderson to tie it moments later for his second of the night. The decisive sequence came in the third: Justin Holl beat Montreal goaltender Jakub Dobes through traffic with 7:31 remaining, with franchise great Alex Ovechkin picking up the secondary assist, his second helper of the young season. Tuch then added an insurance goal, his fifth of the year, before Nick Suzuki pulled the Canadiens within one with under two minutes to go on the power play. Charlie Lindgren stopped 26 shots for the win.

A family affair

The Hutson matchup carried its own storyline. Cole, a 2024 second-round pick who scored on an empty-netter in his own NHL debut last spring, is the third Hutson brother to reach the NHL, joining Lane in Montreal and Quinn in Edmonton. Lane, the reigning Calder Trophy winner after a 66-point rookie season, factored into Wednesday's result with the secondary assist on Suzuki's late goal. Cole did not register a point but logged significant minutes against his older brother's team in just his second NHL game.

Both clubs were playing the second half of a back-to-back: Washington had lost 4-2 at Carolina on Tuesday, while Montreal needed a shootout to beat Buffalo the same night. The win moved the Capitals to 4-3-0 on the young season; Montreal slipped to 3-3-1. Tuch, who joined Washington this offseason from Buffalo and scored twice in his Capitals debut on Oct. 2, has now scored five goals in his first seven games in Washington colors. The 41-year-old Ovechkin, the NHL's all-time leading goal-scorer, continues to settle into a more playmaking-heavy role alongside Washington's retooled forward group.

Washington hosts New Jersey on Saturday, while Montreal returns home to face Buffalo the same night — a quick rematch with the team the Canadiens had just beaten in a shootout two days earlier.