Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
WSH leads 1-0
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the United States: ESPN
In the Capitals region: Monumental Sports Network
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet+
Not much was expected from the Montreal Canadiens in this post-season, being such a young, inexperienced team that used up its energy reserves just to qualify. Through one period, the Washington Capitals looked like they had the measure of an outclassed opponent. Through three periods, a different story had been written.
From being outchanced 11-3 in an opening 20 minutes when the Canadiens were trying to figure out Washington’s physical approach, those scoring-chance numbers were 24-22 for the Capitals when the horn sounded to put an end to Montreal’s furious pressure throughout the second half of the third period. Ultimately, Washington won in overtime, but Montreal received the first chance of the fourth period that could have claimed the win instead.
It will be a more confident Canadiens team that takes to the ice in Game 2, now knowing how the opponent plans to play and having some strategies to counter an intense offensive push. With how they played in the final two periods, the Capitals may even be hesitant to launch another all-out attack with how well Montreal started generating its own offensive looks.
Canadiens Statistics Capitals 42.9% Expected-goal share 57.1% 2 Goals per game 3 3 Goals against per game 2 50% PP% 50% 50% PK% 50% Nick Suzuki (1) Most goals Alexander Ovechkin (2) Lane Hutson (2) Most assists Dylan Strome (3) Lane Hutson (2) Most points Alexander Ovechkin (3) Spencer Carbery was very public with his praise of the Habs’ top line in the days leading up to the series opener, and Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovský proved him right with their play. Privately, he may have been even more wary of the trio, as goaltender Logan Thompson seemed to have a mandate to play the puck whenever possible instead of holding it and giving those three stars an offensive-zone faceoff. Suzuki and Caufield ended up with the goals that pulled Montreal back from a 0-2 deficit, so the Jack Adams favourite will need to put in more work to try to contain them than he already has.
On the opposite end of the spectrum was the third line, specifically wingers Patrik Laine and Ivan Demidov who has a difficult night. We’re not going to grade Demidov too harshly in what are still his first steps in the NHL as he gets accustomed to a completely different brand of hockey than he’s ever played before. He will probably start to figure things out and get more comfortable as the series goes on. Laine, however, knew that he needed to “flip a switch” to play a more intense game, and we didn’t see him toggle that in Game 1. He did get several chances on the power play, and that could still make him a game-changer in this series even if his five-on-five game falters. He does have 17 points in 25 career playoff games (including an assist on Monday), so he does have the ability to rise to a higher level.
The defence as a whole will also need to elevate to give Montreal a better chance of earning a split at Capital One Arena. While shots and scoring chances ended up being relatively equal, the Capitals had an easier time getting to the front of the net for their chances. Lane Hutson admitted after the game that he was upset with himself for losing his man on two of Washington’s goals and saw nine high-danger opportunities in his 22 minutes of action. Even then he was the second-best blue-liner in high-danger-chance share at five-on-five after also being on the ice to help create six of Montreal’s seven looks from the home-plate area. That’s another area — the most important one — that Alex Newhook’s line will need to be a lot better in.
Credit: HockeyViz
Despite the Canadiens going into the series as an underdog (they were the final team to grab a spot on the last day of their season after all) there are just a few areas the team needs to clean up. Even with some parts of the lineup getting outmatched they had a multiple chances to win Game 1. If they can adopt those adjustments and steal a win from the opening two games in Washington, the Bell Cente crowd would be even livelier than it’s going to be regardless upon the Habs return home on Friday.
