Welcome to the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, readers.
Tonight, the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens are set to square off in the postseason for the first time since 2010, when the bottom-seeded Canadiens, thanks to goaltender Jaroslav Halak, upset the top-seeded Capitals in seven games.
The Capitals have lost their last five series in the postseason, and are seeking their first playoff series win since defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in five games to win the 2018 Stanley Cup. Meanwhile, the Canadiens are making their first playoff appearance since 2021, when they fell in the Cup Final to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.
In three regular-season games against one another, the Caps came out on top 2-0-1 with a combined 12-8 score. Montreal clinched the second wild card playoff spot on the final day of their regular season, finishing with a 40-31-11 record. They ended 20 points behind the East-best Capitals and their 51-22-9 record.
The Capitals have home-ice advantage in the series, meaning Game 1 and Game 2, and, if needed, Game 5 and Game 7 will all be played at Capital One Arena.
Team Leaders – Capitals
Goals: Alex Ovechkin (44)
Assists: Dylan Strome (53)
Points: Dylan Strome (82)
Power-Play Goals: Alex Ovechkin (14)
Shorthanded Goals: Aliaksei Protas (3)
Plus/Minus: Aliaksei Protas (+40)
Wins: Logan Thompson (31)
GAA: Logan Thompson (2.49)
SV%: Logan Thompson (.910)
Team Leaders – Canadiens
Goals: Cole Caufield (37)
Assists: Lane Hutson (60)
Points: Nick Suzuki (89)
Power-Play Goals: Patrik Laine (15)
Shorthanded Goals: Joel Armia/Jake Evans (3)
Plus/Minus: Nick Suzuki (+19)
Wins: Sam Montembeault (31)
GAA: Jakub Dobes (2.74)
SV%: Jakub Dobes (.909)
Capitals Injuries
The injury bug struck the Capitals in the final few weeks of the regular season. The Caps saw key players like Logan Thompson, Aliaksei Protas, Martin Fehervary, Jakob Chychrun, Matt Roy, and John Carlson miss time during the final few games before the playoffs.
The biggest question marks heading into the series are Protas and Fehervary.
Protas, who recorded 66 points (30g, 36a) in 76 games this year, got back on the ice for the first time on Sunday morning. The big Belarusian practiced again on Monday at the team’s morning skate but only in a non-contact sweater. However, head coach Spencer Carbery did not rule him out of Game 1 and expects him to return at some point during the series.
Fehervary has not skated since suffering a lower-body injury against the New York Islanders on April 15. Carbery has yet to deliver a specific update on the defenseman and has replaced the 25-year-old Slovakian in the team’s lineup with Alex Alexeyev.
Montreal has a near full clean bill of health. The team’s only significant injury, knee surgery for forward Kirby Dach, occurred in late February. Dach is not set to return until next year.
Logan Thompson vs Charlie Lindgren
The Capitals’ starting netminder for Game 1 is still undetermined, as Carbery has refused to reveal whom he will give the nod to. Logan Thompson has been a full participant in practice since last week and was the first goalie off the ice at Monday’s morning skate, indicating he may man the crease to start the series.
The 28-year-old backstop missed the season’s final seven games after suffering an upper-body injury on April 2 — 19 days ago. Charlie Lindgren started five of those games with Thompson out and notched a 4-2 record in April with a 3.11 goals-against average and a .881 save percentage.
Thompson finished the season with a 31-6-6 record, a 2.49 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage, and two shutouts. After a hot start to the year, he struggled down the stretch, posting a 3.33 goals-against average and a .877 save percentage over his last 15 games.
Neither goalie is more experienced than the other in terms of past playoff action. Both Thompson and Lindgren played the first four postseason games of their career last year.
Alex Ovechkin’s Playoff Redemption
Alex Ovechkin will play in his 16th playoffs for the Capitals after recording zero points in four first-round games against the New York Rangers last year. The series was Ovechkin’s first in his career where he was not able to find the back of the net.
Ovechkin ended the 2024-25 regular season with 73 points (44g, 29a) in 65 games. He had three points (1g, 2a) in the two games he played against the Candiens.
Back in 2010, Ovechkin led the Caps in their seven-game series loss to the Canadiens with 10 points (5g, 5a).
Ivan Demidov’s Role
The Montreal Canadiens made a significant late-season addition when they brought over prospect Ivan Demidov from the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg. The highly-touted prospect shone bright in his NHL debut against the Chicago Blackhawks, recording two points, including his first NHL goal.
Demidov is slated to skate on Montreal’s second line with Alex Newhook and Patrik Laine.
The 19-year-old winger told reporters before the series began that he was more of an Evgeni Malkin fan than an Alex Ovechkin fan growing up.
Pierre-Luc Dubois vs Nick Suzuki
Carbery will likely key in on trying to get Pierre-Luc Dubois’s line out on the ice against Nick Suzuki’s line as much as possible. The Habs’ top trio, also featuring Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky, has been trouble for the Caps this season, posting 10 points (5g, 5a) in their three games against them.
Suzuki finished tied for 13th in the NHL in overall scoring (89 points), while Caufield finished tied for 13th in goals (37).
Dubois, who will play with Tom Wilson and Connor McMichael, has been the Capitals’ answer to most shutdown matchups this year at five-on-five and has excelled in the tough minutes. With him on the ice, the team has seen 52.8 percent of shot attempts, 54.9 percent of expected goals, 55.8 percent of scoring chances, and 57.2 percent of high-danger chances.
The Capitals did not score more five-on-five goals with any other player on the ice than Dubois (73) and owned a 73-44 advantage in goals during his 1,147 minutes of ice time.
Puck drop for Game 1 is set for 7:00 pm inside Capital One Arena. The game will air on ESPN and Monumental Sports Network.
