MONTREAL- Brian Sutherby scored twice and Olaf Kolzig made 43 saves, leading the Washington Capitals to a 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

Sutherby, Brian Willsie and Brooks Laich each scored before the midway point of the first period. Chris Clark added a second-period goal for Washington, which improved to 8-12-0 with its fifth regulation victory of the season.

Michael Ryder scored his team-leading ninth goal on a power play later in the second for Montreal (13-4-3), which lost 5-3 in New Jersey one night earlier. It is the first time this season the Canadiens have lost consecutive games in regulation.

Montreal rookie Yann Danis made his second straight home start and quickly found himself trailing 2-0 on pucks that he and teammate Mathieu Dandenault inadvertently sent into their own goal.

Sutherby was credited with his third goal 23 seconds in when Danis kicked out his left pad as the puck rebounded off the back boards, sending it off his skate and into the net.

Willsie had similar good fortune when Dandenault reached out his stick to take away a pass to Capitals winger Matt Pettinger. The Montreal defenseman redirected the puck toward his own net and between Danis’ pads to put Washington up 2-0 at 5:54.

Laich made it 3-0 on a power play with his first NHL goal 9:20 in. Clark increased the lead to 4-0 with his fourth goal 6:25 into the second.

Jose Theodore, who lost his third in a row Friday night, replaced Danis at 9:10.

Theodore faced just three shots the rest of the way, allowing Sutherby’s second goal 14:16 into third on the only shot he faced in the period.

The Capitals, who lost 8-5 in Buffalo on Thursday night, have won two of three – including a 4-3 shootout win Tuesday night over Tampa Bay – following a three-game losing streak.

Capitals rookie sensation Alexander Ovechkin failed to register a point in the game, though 10 of his teammates did.

Jamie Heward and Matt Bradley assisted on Sutherby’s first goal, Steve Eminger and Jeff Halpern drew assists on Willsie’s goal, and Jakub Klepis and Tomas Fleischman assisted on Laich’s goal. Clark’s goal and Sutherby’s second were unassisted.

Notes: Kolzig had allowed at least two goals in each of his previous 13 games. … The Canadiens have sold out each of their 12 home games. … Danis faced 17 shots.

AP-ES-11-19-05 2140EST