Good Night Montreal! Capitals Down Canadiens 4-1 in Game 5, Will Face Carolina In Second Round


Photo:@Capitals/X

The Washington Capitals defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1, Wednesday night at Capital One Arena. With the victory, the Capitals secured their victory in their best-of-seven series, four games to one. They will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Capitals took an early lead with goals from Alex Ovechkin (a power play marker) and Jakob Chychrun in the first period, while managing to stave off a couple of Montreal power plays. The Capitals’ lead was padded to three with a late power play goal from Tom Wilson.

The Canadiens added their first of the night on a goal early in the third from Emil Heineman. However, the Caps would hold on to their victory, adding a goal on the empty-net from Brandon Duhaime. The Capitals finished with 28 shots to Montreal’s 29 and scored on two of their three power play opportunities while holding the Habs scoreless with the man-advantage.

LINEUP

Logan Thompson (3-1-0, 2.54 GAA, .912 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Jakub Dobés (1-1-0, 2.77 GAA, .877 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Canadiens. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

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

Jakob Chychrun — John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Matt Roy
Alex Alexeyev – Trevor van Riemsdyk

Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren

Scratches: Taylor Raddysh, Dylan McIlrath, Ethan Bear, Ethan Frank, Clay Stevenson.

Injured: Martin Fehervry (undisclosed), Sonny Milano (upper-body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip), T.J. Oshie (back).

1ST PERIOD

The Capitals struck first on an Alex Ovechkin power play goal, his fourth goal of the postseason off the draw. Dylan Strome had the lone assist on the goal.

Jakob Chychrun gave the home team a 2-0 advantage with 8:45 left in the opening frame, finishing a beautiful pass from Pierre-Luc Dubois to put the Capitals ahead; Tom Wilson recorded the secondary assist on the play.

The Caps ended the period on top 2-0 and leading the Habs in shots by a 11-9 margin. The Canadiens dominated Washington’s centermen in the faceoff dot, winning 62.5% of the draws to the Caps’ 37.5%.

2ND PERIOD

The Capitals padded their lead late in the second period, with Tom Wilson striking on the power play for his second goal of the playoffs, assisted by John Carlson and Dylan Strome.

The middle frame concluded with Washington leading by three where it matters most, and continuing to hold the advantage in shots on goal, 20-15.

3RD PERIOD

The shutout bid for Logan Thompson ended with just over three minutes into the final twenty minutes, as a shot from Emil Heineman deflected off Trevor van Riemsdyk to give the Canadiens their first goal of the night; Joel Armia and Oliver Kapanen recorded the assists.

The Capitals added an empty-net goal by Brandon Duhaime to seal their series win and advance to the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

 

ICE SHAVINGS
– NHL Box Score
– Natural StatTrick

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.





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