Tomas Vokoun turned aside all 30 shots he faced and Alexander Semin converted his team's second penalty shot attempt as the Washington Capitals continued their mastery of the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre with a 3-0 victory on Saturday afternoon.

All-Star defenseman Dennis Wideman and Matt Hendricks also scored and Brooks Laich notched a pair of assists for Washington, which has shut out the Canadiens in Montreal on three straight occasions - including a 3-0 victory on Jan. 18. The Capitals improved to 5-0-1 in their last six visits to Montreal and won for the first time since prior to the All-Star break.

Captain Alex Ovechkin returned after serving a three-game suspension. He had one shot on goal and blocked two shots in 19 1/2 minutes of ice time.

Vokoun secured his third shutout of the season and 47th career after stopping 10 shots in each period.

Although goaltender Peter Budaj escaped unharmed after Troy Brouwer was unable to convert his penalty shot attempt midway through the second period, Semin made him pay midway through the third. The Russian snapped a shot past Budaj to give Washington a 3-0 lead.

While hardly aesthetically pleasing, Wideman opened the scoring 8:10 into the first period after his wrist shot off a faceoff fluttered past Budaj for his 10th goal of the season.

Hendricks cleaned up a loose puck on the doorstep at 6:11 of the third period as Montreal dropped its third straight and fell to 9-11-7 at home this season.