Washington Capitals To Meet Montreal Canadiens In First Round Of 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs


Photo: Newsday

After a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at Bell Centre on Wednesday, the Montreal Canadiens clinched the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and will play the Washington Capitals, the top seed in the conference, in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Washington, who is currently 51-21-9 (.685 points percentage) and finish the regular season at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday (7 PM ET, ESPN), went 2-0-1 in three games against Montreal during the regular season, including a 6-3 win at Capital One Arena on October 31 and 4-2 victory at Bell Centre on December 7 despite trailing in each game.

The team finished first in the East a year after qualifying for the postseason as the second wild-card via the second tie breaker (32 regulation wins to 27) despite tying the Detroit Red Wings with 91 points.

Left-wing Alex Ovechkin’s 43 goals and 1.13 points-per-game (72 in 64) lead Washington despite the fact that he missed 16 games in November and December with a broken leg. Center Dylan Strome leads the team with career-highs in assists (52) and points (81) in 81 contests.

Goaltender Logan Thompson went 31-6-6 with a .910 save percentage, 2.49 goals-against average, and two shutouts this season, including going 1-0-1 with an .889 save percentage in two games against the Canadiens.

The Capitals may start the series without Thompson (upper-body injury; has not played since April 2) and Aliaksei Protas (lower-body; April 4).

Montreal, who will qualify for the postseason for the first time since losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, has won eight of their last 11 games with one more to go in the regular season and a 40-31-11 record (.555 points percentage). They are 29-15-8 (.635) since starting 11-16-3.

Center Nick Suzuki leads Montreal with 89 points, at least 18 more than any other Canadien, in 82 outings. Suzuki and rookie defenseman Lane Hutson co-lead the team with 60 assists. Right-wing Cole Caufield has a team-leading 37 goals.

Goaltender Sam Montembeault entered Wednesday 30-24-7 with a .901 save percentage, 2.83 goals-against average, and four shutouts in 61 games this season. He gave up four goals on 35 shots (.886) in Montreal’s 4-2 loss to Washington on December 7, the only appearance he made against the Capitals this season.

Montreal beat Washington in seven games during the first round of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the eighth seed in the East in their only prior postseason meeting despite trailing the series 3-1. Washington won the Presidents’ Trophy with the NHL’s best regular-season record that season.

The NHL has yet to release the series schedule.

All eight series for the first round are locked. The others are the:

  • second-seeded Carolina Hurricanes against the third-seeded New Jersey Devils in the Metropolitan Division
  • Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs against the first wild-card Ottawa Senators
  • second-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning vs. the third-seeded Florida Panthers in the Atlantic
  • First-seeded Winnipeg Jets vs. second wild-card St. Louis Blues in the Central
  • second-seeded Dallas Stars vs. third-seeded Colorado Avalanche in the Central
  • First-seeded Vegas Golden Knights vs. first wild-card Minnesota Wild in the Pacific
  • second-seeded Los Angeles Kings and third-seeded Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific

By Harrison Brown

About Harrison Brown

Harrison is a diehard Caps fan and a hockey fanatic with a passion for sports writing. He attended his first game at age 8 and has been a season ticket holder since the 2010-2011 season. His fondest Caps memory was watching the Capitals hoist the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas. In his spare time, he enjoys travel, photography, and hanging out with his two dogs. Follow Harrison on Twitter @HarrisonB927077





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