Montreal Canadiens Crunch Washington Capitals, 6-3, Cut Washington’s Series Lead To 2-1; Logan Thompson, Sam Montembeault Both Leave Game With Injuries; Connor McMichael Scores Third Goal In Two Games


Photo: @Capitals

The Washington Capitals fell to the Montreal Canadiens, who cut their deficit in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoff first-round series to 2-1, by a score of 6-3 at Bell Centre on Friday. Goaltender Logan Thompson made 30 saves in the loss before Charlie Lindgren made four.

Washington’s Lines

Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome —Anthony Beauvillier
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane – Lars Eller — Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Taylor Raddysh

Jakob Chychrun — John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Matt Roy
Alexander Alexeyev – Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Thompson
Lindgren

  • Scratched
    • D Dylan McIlrath
    • D Ethan Bear
    • LW Ethan Frank
    • G Clay Stevenson
  • Injured
    • D Martin Fehervary (knee)
    • LW Aliaksei Protas (foot)
    • LW Sonny Milano (upper-body)
    • C Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
    • RW T.J. Oshie (back)

Montreal’s Lines

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Josh Anderson – Christian Dvorak  — Brendan Gallagher
Alex Newhook – Jake Evans — Ivan Demidov
Emil Heineman — Oliver Kapanen — Joel Armia

Mike Matheson — Alexandre Carrier
Kaiden Guhle — Lane Hutson
Arber Xhekaj — David Savard

Sam Montembeault
Jakub Dobés

  • Scratched
    • D Jayden Struble
    • C Michael Pezzetta
  • Injured
    • C Kirby Dach (knee)
    • LW Patrik Laine (upper-body)

First Period

Scoring

  • 3:20, 1-0 Washington: After Sandin wristed a shot on goal from the right point that was turned aside by Montembeault, Roy fired it from the circle and McMichael tipped it into an open net in front of the goal crease. The goal was McMichael’s third in his last two games. McMichael has scored Washington’s first goal in back-to-back games. Roy recorded his first postseason point as a Capital. Sandin earned his first career postseason assist.
  • 19:07, 1-1: Carrier stepped in and ripped a wrister from the top after McMichael turned the puck over to Newhook down low and Newhook threw it back to Carrier, who was at the point.

Stats

  • 15-7 Montreal in shots
  • .722 Montreal on faceoffs
  • Both teams failed to score on their first power play
  • 16-13 Montreal in hits
  • 8-4 Washington in blocked shots
  • No giveaways nor takeaways
Graph: Natural StatTrick

Second Period

Scoring

  • 8:37, 2-1 Montreal (PPG): Suzuki roofed a backhand over the blocker of Thompson after Carlson got the puck off of the faceoff, turned around, and lost control of the puck.
  • 10:47, 2-2: After Eller pressured Xhekaj along the wall, Mangiapane fished the puck out and circled the half-wall before feeding Chychrun at the point. Chychrun stepped in and uncorked a slapper over the blocker of Montembeault from the top. The tally marked Chychrun’s second career playoff goal and first since August 17, 2020.
  • Montembeault left the game with 8:21 left annd did not return. Dobés came in.
  • 19:51, 3-2 Montreal: After Sandin turned the puck over to Suzuki who was in the right dot from behind the net, Suzuki slid it across to Caufield, who potted one into an open left side.
  • Dobés skated by the Capitals’ bench and every player grabbed a dance partner at the end of the period. Wilson and Anderson tangled up in Washington’s bench and both got 10-minute misconducts.

Stats

  • 26-15 Montreal in shots
    • including 11-8 in the second
  • .559 Montreal on faceoffs
  • Montreal scored once on their first three power plays
    • Washington failed to score on two through 40 minutes
  • 34-20 Montreal in hits
  • 12-8 Washington in blocked shots
  • 11-5 Washington in giveaways
  • 2-1 Washington in takeaways

Third Period

Scoring

  • 2:39, 3-3: Ovechkin one-timed a shot under the blocker of Dobes from the slot after Beauvillier found Strome from the slot and Strome saucered Ovechkin a pass from the right dot. Ovechkin’s three goals are tied for the third most among all skaters in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Ovechkin passed Joe Pavelski (74) for the 13th-most postseason goals in NHL history. Strome notched his team-leading fifth point of the postseason (1g, 4a). Strome has recorded at least one point in 12 of his last 13 games dating back to March 30, including five multi-point performances. Beauvillier has recorded at least one point in each of his first three postseason games as a Capital.
  • 4:17, 4-3 Montreal: Dvorak stepped and wristed a shot that went off of Duhaime’s stick and through the five-hole of Thompson from the left side of the goal after catching the puck that rimmed off of the boards off of Savard’s dump-in from the defensive zone.
  • 13:23, 5-3: Slafkovsky slammed home Caufield’s cross-ice feed in front of the net to finish off a give-and-go. Thompson left the game after colliding with Strome after the goal.
  • 17:35, 6-3 (PPG): Newhook settled the puck and roofed a wrister over the glove of Lindgren after executing a give-and-go with Gallagher behind the net.

Stats

  • 40-21 Montreal in shots
    • including 14-7 in the third period
  • .537 Montreal on faceoffs
  • Montreal scored twice on five power plays
    • Washington did not convert on two opportunities
  • 46-26 Montreal in hits
  • 19-11 Washington in blocked shots
  • 17-10 Washington in giveaways
  • 5-1 Washington in takeaways

Game 4: Sunday at Bell Centre (6:30 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network locally, TBS and truTV nationally)

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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