The Washington Capitals posted an Eastern Conference-best 51-22-9 record this season and enter the Stanley Cup Playoffs as one of the favorites to make the Cup final with Alexander Ovechkin leading the way. They will face the upstart Montreal Canadiens in the first round, just as they did under similar circumstances the last time the two clubs met 15 years ago.    

The Caps won the Presidents' Trophy in 2010, with Ovechkin scoring 50 or more goals for the fourth time in his career to that point, while the Habs clinched a post-season berth in game No. 82, as they did on Thursday against Carolina. Regular season success did not matter in the playoffs, as the Canadiens pulled off the shocking upset, eliminating Washington in seven games. 

If Montreal is to pull off a similar upset in 2025, history will have to repeat itself in a few key areas. The main reason for Montreal's advancement was winning the goaltending battle.

Both clubs used two goaltenders. Washington started the series with former Hab Jose Theodore as their starter, but after losing Game 1 in overtime, the former Hart and Vezina Trophy winner was pulled in the first period of Game 2 in favor of Semyon Varlamov, who went the rest of the way.  

Jaroslav Halak was stellar in the series opener, stopping 45 shots in a 3-2 overtime victory, but after allowing six goals in a Game 2 overtime loss and three goals on 13 shots in Game 3, he was pulled in favor of 23-year-old Carey Price.

The Habs lost Game 3 and started Price in Game 4, but after falling 6-3 and facing elimination, Habs head coach Jacques Martin went back to Halak. That proved to be the difference in the series, as Halak allowed only three goals on 134 shots for the remainder of the series and stopped 41 shots in Game 7 in Washington.

14 years ago on April 26, 2010, Jaroslav Halak stopped 53 of 54 shots vs Washington as the Habs won Game 6 by a score of 4-1.

This forced a Game 7 against the President's trophy-winning Capitals.

The Habs would win that game & advance.pic.twitter.com/5TXssaYCnC

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) April 27, 2024

Ovechkin was dominant, with five goals and 10 points in the seven-game series, but his offense was matched by Mike Cammalleri, who had five of his 13 post-season goals against the Caps, and Montreal won the special-teams battle by a wide margin, scoring six power play goals and allowing Washington only one goal on the man advantage. 

The Caps this year have question marks between the pipes going into the playoffs, with starter Logan Thompson out injured since the beginning of April. Thompson is skating, but backup Charlie Lindgren will likely start the series.

For Montreal to have any shot, they will need Samuel Montembeault to emulate Halak’s playoff brilliance over the next two weeks.      

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The Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks finished at the bottom of the NHL this season, but both have plenty of great young talent and are working to become contenders for a long time. That isn't going to be a short journey and each needs the right pieces. There seems to be some higher thinking going on ahead of the draft lottery to help the Sharks get there.

Sheng Peng reported that Sharks' GM Mike Grier said he is willing to entertain offers for the first overall pick in the 2025 draft if San Jose were to win it. The Sharks drafted Macklin Celebrini last year and could very well move back for a little extra.

If #SJSharks get the No. 1 pick, Grier says he's more willing to entertain offers for it than last year.

Not that he's giving it away, he'd be looking for a Herschel Walker/Ricky Williams-type offer.

"At the top, after Schaefer, it's probably more forward-heavy."

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 18, 2025

While moving back a few spots in the draft is a more likely possibility to get some extra value, the Blackhawks, who may pick right behind the Sharks this season in the draft could offer up an interesting trade.

Teams may be focusing on how to move up in this draft with their current picks and players, but the Sharks may be intrigued by an offer that includes the Blackhawks' unprotected first round pick next season. Chicago isn't expected to be much better next season, so they should still have a shot at winning the draft lottery again next year.

This would give the Blackhawks two assumed top-4 picks in the 2025 draft to progress the rebuild quicker and the Sharks would get two shots at Gavin McKenna next year. The Blackhawks would of course love to draft McKenna as well, but it's a percentage game and nothing is for certain.

The only problem I potentially see with the Blackhawks having the first and possibly second overall picks this season is that Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman, is widely regarded as the best player in the draft. Chicago doesn't need any more defensemen with Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, Kevin Korchinski, Alex Vlasic, Ethan Del Mastro, Nolan Allan, Wyatt Kaiser, and even Louis Crevier.

While it wouldn't make a ton of sense to draft Schaefer, it is best to draft the best player available and work things out later. I think it could be a possibility since Michael Misa and James Hagens are there, but also a shot at McKenna next year for the Blackhawks may just be too good to pass up. A 1-2 punch of McKenna and Connor Bedard would more than likely lead to a Stanley Cup down the line.

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The Montreal Canadiens will return to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2021 final when their first-round series against the Washington Capitals kicks off on Monday.

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While the objective was only to be in the mix this season for the rebuilding Canadiens, they’ve exceeded it and are now playing with house money as one of the biggest underdogs of the first round. Standing in their way are the Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division champions, the Capitals.

The Regular Season

There is a 20-point difference in the standings between the two sides, but the Canadiens were in the best shape in the final 10 games of the season, going 7-1-2 down the stretch while Washington went 4-6-0. The D.C. outfit lost four of the six games played after sniper extraordinaire and team captain Alexander Ovechkin beat Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record. Some feared the Gr8 Chase would be a distraction during the regular season, but it became a motivator for the whole team. Still, since the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Canadiens put up 36 points on the board while the Capitals put up 31. 

The teams crossed paths three times this season, and Spencer Carbery’s men came out on top twice, but Martin St-Louis’ charges won the most recent duel 3-2 in January. The Caps’ wins came in October (6-3) and December (4-2), which means they outscored Montreal 12-8 in the season series. It’s worth noting that both of the Caps' wins came before the Canadiens turned a corner in their progression and went on a couple of impressive winning streaks.

The Attack

Throughout the season series, Cole Caufield has been the Canadiens’ top scorer with five points in three games, followed by Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson, who both have four. Brendan Gallagher, Alex Newhook, Christian Dvorak, David Savard, Josh Anderson, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Kaiden Guhle had a single point while everyone else was kept off the scoresheet.

If the Canadiens hope to win this series, the attack must be spread around, starting with the second line. Kirby Dach is still out of action, so rookie Ivan Demidov has landed in the top six, skating alongside Newhook and Patrik Laine. If they can find a way to be a real threat to the Capitals’ defence, it will ease the pressure on the Suzuki line and cause Carbery headaches.

The attack was much more spread out for Washington, with gritty winger Tom Wilson and youngster Aliaksei Protas (who is currently sidelined with an injury) leading the way with four points apiece in three games. Ovechkin, center Dylan Strome, and right winger Taylor Raddysh all had three points, but the captain did it in two games, missing one of the duels.

Connor McMichael, Pierre-Luc Dubois, John Carlson, Jacob Chychrun, and Trevor Van Riemsdyk all scored two points in the season series, demonstrating that the Capitals have more offensive contributors.

While Ovechkin will be one of the guys to watch for the Canadiens, they can’t afford to let Wilson get too comfortable. The rugged winger has a very physical game that Montreal would do well to tame quickly. With Arber Xhekaj sitting out the last five games of the season, it’s hard to imagine St. Louis deploying him to start the series, and Guhle might have to handle the 225-pound, six-foot-four ball of hate, even though Xhekaj would have had a weight advantage on him.

The Goaltending

In net, St-Louis will go with Samuel Montembeault, the Becancour native, who had the best season of his career with 31 wins, a 2.80 goals-against average, and a .902 save percentage. The number one netminder has played six times against the first-round foe and has a 2-3-0 record against them, alongside a 3.49 GAA and a .893 SP. This series will be his baptism of fire; he’s among the numerous Canadiens players who have never tasted playoff hockey.

Should he struggle, Jakub Dobes will be waiting in the wings. The young netminder was in the net for the Canadiens’ only win against the Capitals this season. The Czech keeper has a 7-4-3 record this season with a 2.74 GAA and a .909 SP. Needless to say he has no NHL playoffs experience.

The situation is a bit trickier for the Capitals, Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren shared goaltending duties this season, with the former playing in 43 games and the latter 39. Thompson had the better record; he was 31-6-6 with a 2.49 GAA and a .910 SP, while Lindgren was 20-14-3- with a 2.73 GAA and a .910 SP. The problem is, though, Thompson is currently dealing with an injury, and there’s no word about his availability for the start of the series.

Thompson is 1-0-1 against the Canadiens with a 3.04 GAA and a .889 SP, while Lindgren, a former Hab, is 3-1-0 against them with a 2.51 GAA and a .899 SP. Goaltenders Clay Stevenson and Hunter Sheppard have each played a game for the Caps this season, with the former allowing five goals and the latter seven. One can safely assume Carbery would likely prefer not to go there.

The Experience

If Montreal wants to come out on top, they need to find a way to stop Oveckin on the power play, something every teams in the league has been trying to do for 20 years now. It's the play you know its coming and yet seem to be unable to do anything about it. It's similar to the Hutson-Laine combination on the power play, except it seems to work every time. 

The Capitals are the far older and more experienced team, having won the Stanley Cup in 2017-18, and according to St-Louis himself, the Canadiens’ goal this season was to learn to win and handle the pressure that comes with it. It wasn’t easy, and it took them four games to secure their playoff berth under pressure. In the postseason, there is nothing but pressure, and you can’t afford to need four tries to win a game. School is in session, and the Habs must be on their best behavior to pass the next lesson, they can’t afford to sleep through the first period either.

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