Photo: NHL PR
The Washington Capitals downed the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2(OT), Monday night at Capital One Arena. With the win, the Capitals take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven series. Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored the opening and closing goals of the game in the victory. Logan Thompson stopped 33 of 35 shots faced in his return to the Capitals crease.
LINEUP
Logan Thompson (31-6-6, 2.49 GAA, .910 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Sam Montembeault (31-24-7, 2.82 GAA, .902 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 — Taylor Raddysh
Jakob Chychrun — John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin — Matt Roy
Alex Alexeyev – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Scratches: Dylan McIlrath, Ethan Bear, Ethan Frank, Clay Stevenson.
Injured: Martin Fehervry (undisclosed), Aliaksei Protas (lower-body), Sonny Milano (upper-body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip), T.J. Oshie (back).
1ST PERIOD
The Capitals opened the scoring late in the first period with a power play goal from Alex Ovechkin (1) at 18:34 of the period. Tom Wilson (1) and Dylan Strome (1) had the helpers.
Power play goal for Washington!
Scored by Alex Ovechkin with 01:26 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome.
Washington: 1
Montreal: 0#MTLvsWSH #ALLCAPS #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/IQ4HxcMozZ— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 21, 2025
It was Ovechkin’s 73rd marker in postseason play and 29th career playoff power-play goal. With the tally, Ovechkin passes Patrick Marleau and Esa Tikkanen (72) and ties Dino Ciccarelli (73) for the 14th-most playoff goals in NHL history. He passes Evgeni Malkin and Denis Potvin (28) for the eighth-most playoff power-play goals in NHL history.
And that was it for the first frame. The Capitals led in five-on-five shot attempts, 23-13, high-danger chances, 7-1 and expected goals for, 1.i1 to 0.40.
2ND PERIOD
The Capitals made it 2-0 early in the middle frame with a rebound goal by Anthony Beauvillier (1) at 12:09. Alex Ovechkin (1) and Dylan Strome (2) had the assists.
This Ovi-Stromer-Beauvi line got the JUICE pic.twitter.com/vBkUVIkeQ0
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 22, 2025
And that was it for the middle frame. The Canadiens poured it on in the last half of the period and led in five-on-five shot attempts, 19-12.
3RD PERIOD
The Canadiens cut the Capitals lead to 2-1 with a power play goal from Cole Caufield (1) at 10:32. Patrick Laine (1) and Lane Hutson (1)had the helpers.
MODE « COLE DES SÉRIES » ACTIVÉ
PLAYOFF COLE UNLOCKED#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/29RC4IhvPh
— x – Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 22, 2025
The Candiens tied the game with five minutes remaining in regulation. Nick Suzuki (1) notched the tying tally at 15:45. A. Carrier (1) and L. Hutson (2) had the assists.
ON N’ABANDONNE PAS
THE CAPTAIN TIES THE GAME#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/7tbaDpHq7U
— x – Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 22, 2025
Regulation concluded in a 2-2 tie. The Canadiens led in five-on-five shot attempts, 28-16, and expected goals for, 1.43 to 0.49 for the period.
OVERTIME
The Capitals won it in overtime. Alex Ovechkin provided the winner just 2:26 into the extra frame. Anthony Beauvillier (1) and Dylan Strome (3) provided the assists. It marks Beauvillier’s first career overtime assist and second career overtime point (1g, 1a).
OVECHKIN WINS GAME 1 IN OVERTIMEpic.twitter.com/ajjVjRbqYZ
— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) April 22, 2025
It marks Ovechkin’s 10th career playoff multi-goal performance. It marks Strome’s first career multi-point playoff game. Strome is the 19th player in franchise history to record three assists in a playoff game and the first since John Carlson on April 11, 2019.
SHAVINGS
- Anthony Beauvillier is the first player in NHL history to assist on Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin goals in the same season/playoffs.
- The Capitals are 28-21 (.571) in Game 1s all-time and 18-12 (.600) in Game 1s played at home. Washington has won its last three Game 1s played at Capital One Arena.
- Matt Roy led the Capitals in ice time with 26:12, which marks his second-highest total in a playoff game in his career (April 23, 2023 vs. EDM: 28:13).
