While the Montreal Canadiens surprised most people by making the playoffs last year, they didn’t surprise themselves. They thought they had what it took to make it, and they did. Once there, though, they saw that it was a whole different game, a tougher one, a more vicious one and one they weren’t necessarily ready for. Nearly seven months later, the young Habs will get a chance to avenge their elimination at the hands of the Washington Capitals and put an end to a four-game losing streak, all in one swift motion.
Tonight’s opponents roll into two, riding a two-game winning streak and having put seven goals on the board last night against the Edmonton Oilers. The Caps are currently outside of the playoff picture, looking in, but they’re right on the doorstep, two points behind the surprising Pittsburgh Penguins for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
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After scoring at an alarming pace last season to break Wayne Gretzky’s record, Alexander Ovechkin is on pace for 29 goals this year, which would be his lowest total since the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season in which he put up 24 goals in the 45 games he played. Still, he scored a goal last night in the Caps’ offensive picnic, and with 70 career points in 60 games against Montreal, the Russian idol will no doubt be pleased to take on the Habs.
Martin St-Louis has already announced that Samuel Montembeault would be in the net tonight, despite Jakub Dobes putting an end to the Canadiens’ pointless streak on Monday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Still, it wasn’t a win, so switching goalies is understandable. The Becancour native has started five regular-season games against the Caps and has a 2-3-0 record to show for it, with a 3.49 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage. As for Dobes, he’s only faced them once in the regular season, winning that game with a 1.96 GAA and a .882 SV. Both goalies played in Montreal’s sole win over Washington in last season’s playoffs since Dobes relieved Montembeault after he was injured.
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The Capitals have yet to confirm who will be in the net, but since Logan Thomson was on duty Wednesday night, it would make sense for Charlie Lindgren to get the nod. The former member of the Habs’ organization has a 3-1-0 record against his former team with a 2.51 GAA and a .899 SV. As for Thompson, he has a 1-0-1 record against the Canadiens with a 3.04 GAA and a .889 SV. He’s established himself as the clear number one in the American capital, having started 14 games to Lindgren’s six.
Tonight’s game is the first of three duels between the two sides this season, the other two being scheduled in January (in Washington) and February (in Montreal). The Caps have won six of the last 10 duels between the two teams, but they’ve outscored the Canadiens 40-32 in that span.
On top of Ovechkin, many Caps have enjoyed playing the Canadiens over the years. John Carlson has 26 points in 44 duels, Tom Wilson has 19 points in 28 games, and Dylan Strome has 13 points in just 12 matches.
Meanwhile, both Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield have more than a point per game against tonight’s visitors. The captain has 19 points in just 15 games, while the sniper has 13 points in 11 games. Alternate captains Brendan Gallagher and Mike Matheson also have 13 points each, but in 30 and 27 games, respectively.
Yesterday at practice, St-Louis stuck to the new lines he used against Columbus on Monday, meaning Zach Bolduc will skate on the first line and Juraj Slafkovsky on the second. Given the history between the two teams, we should be able to see St-Louis’ new power-play units at work as well.
While the Capitals were busy handing out a defeat to the Oilers last night, the Canadiens were busy donating their time at the organization’s 44th blood drive. Close to 850 people had booked appointments to donate blood, and the reward for their good deed was the opportunity to meet some of the players and members of the organization. It was all hands on deck as players relayed each other throughout the day to greet donors and sign autographs.
The initiative was launched in 1981 by the late, great Jean Beliveau, and according to an Hema Quebec representative, it has saved over 116,000 lives since its inception, meaning you could fill up the Bell Centre six times with the people whose lives it has changed. Fans in attendance tonight will hope the players won’t be as generous with their opponents as they were with their time with the donors yesterday. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch the game on RDS, TSN2, and MNMT.
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