It wasn’t quite as easy as the number makes it out to be, but the Washington Capitals beat the Montréal Canadiens in five games. The 4-1 series was marked by injuries, aggressive plays on both sides, poor refereeing, and goaltender heroics. It should be a good warm-up for the Capitals as they move on to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round, with all those elements likely to reappear.
Round One: Capitals vs. Canadiens
| Statistic | Capitals | Canadiens |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 18 | 12 |
| Power play goals | 3 | 5 |
| Power play opportunities | 13 | 15 |
| Shots | 139 | 148 |
| Hits | 160 | 184 |
Game one was a 3-2 overtime win for the Capitals. They played two great periods, full of quality zone time and great shot and chance counts, and Logan Thompson didn’t have to work too hard to keep the Canadiens off the board because the defense was working. It was the kind of play you want to see more of from them when they’re playing teams that aren’t quite up to their level. The third period was where they let off the gas, and they didn’t score while the Habs put two on the board and forced extra time. Ovechkin saved the day with his first playoff OT goal and second score of the game, but he shouldn’t have had to. 2:26 isn’t a lot of extra hockey to play, even in the playoffs, but there was no reason the Capitals couldn’t have either kept one of those goals from going in or scored just one more of their own.
Game two, pretty similar to the first, a 3-1 win. It was finished in regulation, which you love to see. The Capitals didn’t look as good in the first two periods of this one as they did in game one, but they did enough. Logan Thompson especially kept them in this one with 25 big saves and only letting one through. Defensively, things looked a bit better, especially with the dangerous first line of Montréal being shut down to the tune of eight shots and zero points. The Habs as a whole couldn’t really get shots on goal until the third period, with twelve in the first two combined and then fourteen in the third. Washington’s top line didn’t look quite as impressive after scoring all three of the game one goals, but they didn’t have to, with McMichael scoring twice.
Game three was all Habs. A 6-3 win for them in Montréal, they fed off the energy in the Bell Centre to kill the potential sweep. Six different goal scorers, an onslaught of shots and hits, and two power play goals put the hurting on a Capitals team that did not come prepared for the atmosphere. Bad passing, bad turnovers in their own zone, and low shooting volume as a result of those things. This was the game where both goalies went out with injury. Logan Thompson was concussed after Dylan Strome ran into him, and Sam Montembeault tore his groin (more on injuries later, but ouch). Charlie Lindgren and Jakub Dobeš both let in one goal in their abbreviated play. Lindgren wouldn’t see any more action in the series, but Dobeš had to play the next (and last) two games in full.
Game four was where the tables started turning back in Washington’s favor, and they won 5-2. They were down 2-1 at one point, still didn’t reach even 30 shots on goal, and gave up another two power play goals. They rallied, though, and utterly silenced the Bell Centre with a four-goal third period. They stayed physical, with huge hits including the one from Wilson on Carrier that led to a goal. It wasn’t a good-looking game overall, but the fact that they delivered when it mattered most (and that they avoided letting the Habs tie the series up) was pretty promising.
Game five was even more promising. With the return of Aliaksei Protas providing a boost, and a chance to close the series out at home in five games, the Capitals did just that, winning 4-1. They played their best, most complete game in weeks, not letting up even when they were winning 3-0 to start the third. The Habs broke through for one, which was almost assured to happen at some point, but Brandon Duhaime grabbed himself another empty-netter (his second ENG and third goal in two games) to quash any hopes of a late rally. Series: over.
The laundry list of injuries that come out after a playoff series is over is always impressive/horrifying, and this one was no exception. The Canadiens were dealing with some major injuries. Carrier had an ankle injury that needed more tape than I’ve ever seen on a limb before, Gallagher had a broken rib, Anderson was dealing with a knee injury from December on and had upper body issues on top of that, and Montembeault tore his groin mid-game. The team is full of warriors. On the Capitals side, the only major injury we saw was Logan Thompson going down with a concussion. He managed to pass concussion protocol and played the last two games of the series, but he was clearly still ailing, as evidenced by his light sensitivity. Whenever the Capitals’ postseason concludes, we’ll probably find out a lot more things that these guys are playing through, but for now, they’re pretty healthy on paper.
Before moving on to look at round two, credit has to be given to the Montréal Canadiens. They fought hard all series long, their top line is incredible, they outplayed the 111-point Washington Capitals in no fewer than five of the fifteen regulation periods, and they did it all as injured young guys. They’re not just the youngest team to make the playoffs, they’re the youngest team in the league period. They will absolutely be back in the playoffs soon, if not perennially, with a far better outlook than they had this season. They and their fans should be happy they got to the postseason in the first place; it’s a monumental achievement that took all 82 games to get to. Not being swept (as the Capitals were just a season ago) is even bigger. Next season, they’re going to be looking forward to even bigger things.
GLB’s three stars of the series:
⭐️ Anthony Beauvillier (1G, 4A, +4, 14 SOG, 3 blocks, 16 hits, 0 PIM)
⭐️⭐️ Alex Ovechkin (4G, 1A, +3, 19 SOG, 1 block, 19 hits, 2 PIM)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Dylan Strome (2G, 7A +3, 9 SOG, 4 blocks, 2 hits, 0 PIM)
Now it’s time for round two versus the Carolina Hurricanes. First, let’s look at the (very even) season series:
November 3, 2024: WSH 2-4 CAR
December 20, 2024: CAR 1-3 WSH
April 2, 2025: WSH 1-5 CAR
April 10, 2025: CAR 4-5 WSH (SO)
And now some quick numbers:
By the Numbers: Capitals vs. Hurricanes
| Statistic | Capitals | Hurricanes |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 4-1 | 4-1 |
| Goals leader | Alex Ovechkin (4) | Andrei Svechnikov (5) |
| Assists leader | Dylan Strome (7) | Sebastian Aho (5) |
| Hits leader | Brandon Duhaime (20) | Jordan Martinook (25) |
| Power play percentage | 23.1% | 31.6% |
| Penalty kill percentage | 66.7% | 100% |
| Shots per game | 27.8 | 36.6 |
| Shooting percentage | 13% | 10.4% |
| Goals for per game | 3.6 | 3.8 |
| Goaltenders | Logan Thompson (132 SV, .923 SV%) | Freddie Andersen (88 SV, .936 SV%) |
| Charlie Lindgren (4 SV, .800 SV%) | Pyotr Kochetkov (45 SV, .900 SV%) | |
| Notable injuries | Martin Fehérváry (out for entire postseason) | Eric Robinson (day-to-day) |
The Hurricanes are a team the Capitals know well and a team that plays them closely. They’re going to play physically, as they did in their own first-round series (192 hits in five games), and they’re going to shoot a lot (183 shots in the series). The last two meetings between these teams resulted in fifteen goals, 160 penalty minutes, and some bad blood that should carry over into this series. You’re gonna see a lot of replays of the years-old Ovechkin knockout of Svechnikov, and the Chatfield takedown on McMichael this year, but let’s look at the stuff that really matters.
The high shooting volume is the biggest thing to deal with in any matchup with the Hurricanes. You pretty much can’t slow it down. You just have to play as good of a defensive game as you physically can, take away the easy angles, try to prevent tough screens, and give your goaltender a chance. Logan Thompson is beatable on screened shots and funky bounces, and when you’re shooting 40-50 times a game, those are going to happen. Just hope it doesn’t happen a lot.
In terms of players to watch out for on offense, I’m gonna be worried about Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis, and Jackson Blake. Aho is the team’s points leader, both in the regular season and in the postseason so far. Nearly a point-per-game player, Aho is great at all aspects of the game. Skating, shooting, assisting, playing at all strengths and all zones, there’s nothing he can’t do. He hasn’t hit against the Capitals yet this season, but he lit up the Devils to the tune of three goals and five assists, only taking one penalty in the process. Svechnikov did pot a goal against the Capitals, and a whopping five in the five-game series the Canes just completed (including a game four hat trick). The young winger put up 20 goals and 28 assists in his 72 games and will look to build on the momentum he got started at the end of the first round. Seth Jarvis scored three times against the Caps this season, and managed five points in their five playoff games (albeit finishing with a -1). A power play threat like Aho and Svechnikov, Jarvis doesn’t typically shoot a ton (under three per game this season) but can hit when he does, and isn’t afraid to dish it to his linemates. Last but not least, Blake also lit the Caps up for three goals in their four games, and also spends time on the power play (though not with nearly the same production). Playing just one game in 2023-24 (the last of the season and his first in the NHL), he played 80 of 82 for the Canes this year and has put up four points in five in the postseason, using his young legs to skate over 20 minutes per game after averaging under 14 minutes per game all season.
Defensively, the Caps are gonna need to watch out for Jaccob Slavin, and Justin Chatfield above all else. Slavin is one of the top few defensive defensemen in the entire NHL. He skates like few else, gets himself in position to block shots en masse, keeps his team massively out-chancing the opposition, and doesn’t take penalties pretty much at all. He’s going to be a problem, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see his pairing matched up with ones including Jakob Chychrun and John Carlson to try to use their extra offense to negate his defensive prowess. Chatfield is an underrated defenseman, one who can shut down the opposition and make few big mistakes even if he isn’t flashy or offensively-minded. Even with playing the opposite side of Slavin, his skill and style makes it so that when the pairings swap off, things don’t get much easier for the other team’s offense. While he’s a plus-minus leader for the Canes, he’s also second in PIM (just behind Svechnikov) and near the bottom of the team in terms of points, so a team that can either attack his LD (Orlov) and score or put him in the penalty box should be able to swing things in their favor. Look for maybe Protas or Wilson to try the former while Ovechkin and Duhaime try to draw penalties.
When it comes to goaltenders, the Hurricanes had to lean on Pyotr Kochetkov in the regular season (47 games, .898 SV%) while Freddie Andersen was out for months with a knee issue that required surgery (22 games, .899 SV%). Both had pretty average numbers, ranking at 29 and 12 respectively in goals saved above expected per 60 (minimum 15 games). In the postseason, though, Anderson got the nod and played well until he had to exit with another injury. He finished the round with a remarkable .936 SV%, saving 88 of 94 shots faced. Kochetkov, in relief and in a game all his own, finished with a .900 SV%, allowing 5 goals on 50 shots. Three of those goals came within just about six minutes of each other in the first period of game five, which had Canes fans worried from then through the end of double overtime, where Aho finally got the job done on the power play. It currently loks like Andersen is going to be ready to retake his starting position for the second round, so the Capitals will have to contend with a veteran playoff riser who won’t let much of anything easy by him.
When it comes to Washington’s offense, I named their entire top line as my three stars of the series for a reason. They’re the biggest offensive threat of the four, they had more points than any other, and they came up big. Strome, Ovechkin, and Beauvillier need to keep their chemistry rolling if the Capitals want to win this series. Connor McMichael also took some big steps in the absence of Aliaksei Protas, scoring three goals and assisting on two more. Wilson did what Wilson does, which is be physical and score (2G 3A). Chychrun did his thing too, and Duhaime came up big with three goals, but the rest of the team needs to start pulling more weight on offense. Pierre-Luc Dubois was great this regular season, but now only has two assists and no goals in the postseason. He was tasked with helping to shut down Montréal’s top line, but with the third line essentially a non-factor offensively, he has to generate more. Aliaksei Protas’ return should help with that. He only played in game five, and spent his time on Nic Dowd’s line with Brandon Duhaime. As he gets more comfortable and closer to game shape, he should work his way back up and create the offense he’s known for (and keep hunting for those short-handed goals). He and Alex Alexeyev were the only players to not register a point in the series, which is a great start for the Caps, but I need to see more out of (at least) Carlson, Dubois, and Leonard. I know Leonard is young and inexperienced, and has shown good instincts and drive, but if he can’t get anything going, I have to wonder if it wouldn’t be worth trying Ethen Frank again. He’s older, has AHL playoff experience, and his speed is a game-changer, which might be even more impactful when he’s more rested than anyone on either squad.
Defensively, the Capitals are good, and need to stay that way. They didn’t give up much outside of that big six-goal loss in Montréal, and Alexeyev has been surprisingly good defensively given his low in-season reps. The team missed Protas, especially on the penalty kill, and they’ll continue to miss Martin Fehérváry until next season, but I don’t have too much to say about the team’s D the way I did about their offense. If everyone can maintain the level they hit in the first round, especially in game five, they’ll be giving themselves a real chance to get past the Canes. The PK needs to show it can continue improving as it did over the course of the series, and if they don’t immediately give up a couple PPGs in the first game or two, I’ll have my faith in it restored.
That’s all I’ve got before this one gets started. Game one will be on Tuesday at Capital One Arena, and it should be exciting for a ton of different reasons. Who are you most worried about on Carolina’s squad? Who do you think is gonna come up big for Washington? Let me know on BlueSky or Twitter (or in the comments below), and if you’re on Discord, you should be in the Capitals’ server.
