Right about now, the Washington Capitals could be wondering whether the hockey gods have stopped smiling on them. Or, at least, not as often as in past seasons.

What else is there to be said about a team that went into the season expecting to go deep into the playoffs - but look at them now: they're in the playoff mix, but just barely. And even their 3-0 victory over the No. 12 Canadiens on Wednesday delivers a signal things could get worse before they get better.

Put it this way: the Capitals have been outshot in all but three of their past 16 games, and teams with only 16 shots rarely win games. They learned that lesson the hard way 24 hours earlier at home when they fell 3-0 to the New York Islanders after delivering a season-low 17 shots on goal. On Wednesday: 16, which means that for the sixth consecutive game, the Capitals have had fewer than 25 shots.

On the other hand, there was more than enough good news for the Capitals, starting with the 31 stops made by goaltender Michal Neuvirth, who went into the game with an underwhelming 5-7-2 record. Even better news for the Capitals is that Neuvirth really didn't need his "A" game until the third period when the Canadiens outshot Washington 17-6.

Up to that point, the Canadiens had barely threatened. Worse, the Capitals already held a 3-0 lead, including a power-play goal midway through the second period by Alex Ovechkin.

There were few surprises on this night, which included a Rene Bourque-Matt Hendricks bout a mere 75 seconds into the game - payback for his hit to the head of Washington points leader Nicklas Backstrom on Jan. 3 when Bourque was still with the Flames.

Backstrom hasn't played since then, Bourque has served a five-game suspension, losing more than $200,000 in the process.

"I obviously don't feel good about what I did and I apologized for it, but I'm sure they'll be a few guys probably coming after me," Bourque told reporters before the game.

"It's part of the game and I just need to be prepared for it. I know guys will be looking to make sure they finish their checks against me."

Bourque was a clear winner in the fight and a near winner in the second period when he had a breakaway from centre ice, had Neuvirth beaten - only to strike the post with his shot.

That was one of the very few high moments for the Canadiens and their fans, but should anyone expect even that much in a game where each team had a mere 10 shots with only eight minutes remaining in the second period? What's more, that's the number with which the Capitals ended the period, taking with them their 3-0 lead into the second intermission.

Two goals came on four shots in a first period during which Washington was held to one shot for roughly the last 12 minutes.

Ovechkin's 19th of the season came midway through the second while Mathieu Darche was sitting out a double minor for high-sticking.

The three goals came on nine shots, so answer this: are you starting to get the idea that Carey Price didn't have a good night to go along with more than a few others this season? Obviously, he received no help from a flat, indecisive group of Canadiens skaters, but the goaltender's job is to stop the puck - and Carey! Carey! Carey! came up short.

However, he had lots of company among the skaters for the first two periods.

Max Pacioretty and Erik Cole finally found the range in the final period, ending the game with six and five shots, respectively.

Scott Gomez also had five of the Canadiens' shots, which is good. His minus-2: not so good.

The fact is, hardly anybody on this Canadiens team that needs every point if they are to climb in the standings played well.

I kid you not: on Wednesday, they appeared to be playing with a "losing mentality" from the nets outward - for the first 40 minutes.

Showing up for the final 20 minutes and trailing by three, hardly ever gets it done.

rfisher@ montrealgazette.com