It was almost a beautiful thing, but it was negated.

Alex Ovechkin fired the puck past Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak early in the third and was instantly ablaze in spotlights as the crowd went nuts.  It didn’t last long.

An official ruled that Mike Knuble was inside the goal crease, although the replay didn’t necessarily agree. The goal was reversed and the Washington Capitals’ drew to a close via a shocking 2-1 playoff defeat to the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.

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Montreal overcame a 3-games-to-1 deficit against the top-seeded Caps, who also had the league’s best regular-season record.

The Eastern Conference’s top three teams have now all been knocked out of the playoffs. Montreal will begin its second-round series on Friday at Pittsburgh vs. the Penguins, who also happen to be the defending Stanley Cup champs. The Philadelphia Flyers will open their second-round series on Saturday against the Bruins in Boston.

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