Home Again – The Caps conclude a set of back-to-back games and start a five-game homestand tonight when they host the Montreal Canadiens at Capital One Arena. Tonight marks Washington’s seventh game of the season – in a span of 13 days – and that comes after a 13-day training camp in which they played four preseason games. Starting on Thursday – an off day for the Caps – Washington will play just three games across the next 13 days.
Tuesday night in Raleigh, the Caps suffered a second straight setback, 4-2 to the Hurricanes. The Canadiens will also be playing for the second time in as many nights; they edged Buffalo 4-3 in a shootout on Tuesday in Montreal, and they enter tonight’s game with a modest two-game winning streak, both achieved via the shootout.
Eleven of Washington’s first 15 games of the season will be played in DC, so this upcoming stretch is crucial as the Caps seek to stack up some points before the long road excursions begin.
Tonight, the Caps will again be without the services of center Pierre-Luc Dubois (illness) and defenseman Matt Roy (lower body). Blueliner Rasmus Sandin has yet to play this season, and he was placed on long-term injured reserve earlier in the week.
As to how the lines might look, here’s what Caps coach Spencer Carbery had to say when asked if there would be any line alterations from Tuesday’s look in Carolina:
“There's a bunch. So, just pen, paper, warm-up.”
Brother To Brother – Tonight’s game between the Caps and the Canadiens carried the possibility of being a real festival of brothers. Washington has the Protas brothers – Aliaksei and Ilya – and the two have skated on the same line through the season’s first six games. Montreal has the Xhekaj brothers, Arber and Florian; the former is a defenseman, and the latter is a forward. But Florian Xhekaj has missed the last couple of Habs games with an undisclosed injury, and he has not been in the lineup regularly when healthy.
But fear not, because the main brotherhood event in this meeting between the Caps and the Canadiens pits one dynamic defenseman from each team facing the other for the first time in their respective NHL careers. Montreal’s Lane Hutson is the second-oldest of the four hockey-playing Hutson brothers, and he faces off against rookie Caps blueliner Cole Hutson, who is two years younger.
The eldest Hutson brother is forward Quinn Hutson, who is in the Edmonton organization. Quinn Hutson has played six NHL games across the last two seasons, but he has yet to face one of his younger brothers at the NHL level.
Lane is a legitimate star in the League. He is in his third full season, and after winning the Calder Trophy as the League’s top rookie in 2024-25 – with six goals and 60 assists for 66 points – he improved to a dozen goals and 66 helpers for 78 points last season, finishing sixth in Norris Trophy balloting in the process.
Cole Hutson is two weeks into his first full NHL season, but he showed some similar traits to Lane late last season when he put up three goals and seven assists for 10 points in a 14-game debut splash with Washington.
Tonight marks the first of what are likely to be many future meetings between various Hutson brothers in the NHL, and there’s one more who is vying to reach the pro level. Lars Hutson doesn’t turn 18 until next month, and he is currently skating for Muskegon of the USHL. Lars Hutson’s first year of draft eligibility is 2027.
“I'm going to take a second to peek at that tonight,” says Carbery. “It'll be a cool moment. Getting to know Cole and knowing his family and what Lane's accomplished the first few years, and coaching against him and coaching a playoff series against Lane, that's a moment that you don't want to take for granted.
“I know his family will be watching, and the two other brothers will be watching that game, and for them to go head to head for the first time in the NHL is a pretty cool moment.”
In The Nets – Charlie Lindgren gets the net for Washington tonight, making his second start of the season and his first since Oct. 3 when he made 27 saves in a losing effort at Tampa against the Lightning.
Lindgren will be facing the team that gave him his NHL start; the Canadiens signed Lindgren as an undrafted college free agent on March 30, 2016. Just over a week later – on April 7, 2016, Lindgren made his NHL debut, starting against the Hurricanes in Carolina in the Habs’ penultimate regular season game of 2015-16. He made 26 saves in a 4-2 Montreal win to record his first career NHL victory.
Lifetime against the Habs, Lindgren is 4-2-0 in seven appearances – all starts – with a 3.05 GAA and an .879 save pct.
For the Canadiens, Jakub Dobes is tonight’s starter. Dobes started each of the Habs’ first three games this season, winning on opening night in Toronto before falling at Pittsburgh and in the home opener against Carolina.
After Jacob Fowler started the next three games – winning two, both in the shootout – the Canadiens are going back to Dobes for the second start of the back-to-back set. Dobes faced 91 shots in his three starts while Fowler saw a lighter workload of 67 shots, and two of his starts included five-minute overtime sessions.
Lifetime against the Capitals in the regular season, Dobes is 2-1-0 in three appearances – two starts – with a 3.06 GAA and an .887 save pct.
All Down The Line – Here’s how the Caps and the Habs looked last night when they faced Carolina and Buffalo, respectively. Neither team skated ahead of tonight’s second of back-to backs:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
89-Tuch, 17-Strome, 43-Wilson
21-A. Protas, 62-I. Protas, 8-Ovechkin
9-Leonard, 22-Jenner, 25-Kyrou
72-Beauvillier, 34-Sourdif, 53-Frank
Defense
6-Chychrun, 27-Liljegren
42-Fehervary, 73-Desharnais
44-Hutson, 4-Holl
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
48-Thompson
Injured/Out
3-Roy (lower body)
38-Sandin (lower body)
80-Dubois (illness)
Healthy Extras
52-McIlrath
63-Miroshnichenko
MONTREAL
Forwards
13-Caufield, 14-Suzuki, 20-Slafkovsky
22-Kreider, 15-Newhook, 17-Anderson
76-Bolduc, 24-Danault, 85-Texier
62-Beck, 71-Evans, 77-Dach
Defense
48-Hutson, 53-Dobson
21-Guhle, 45-Carrier
72-A. Xhekaj, 42-Engstrom
Goaltenders
75-Dobes
32-Fowler
Injured/out
8-Matheson (lower body)
35-Montembeault (lower body)
63-F. Xhekaj (undisclosed)
91-Kapanen (lower body)
93-Demidov (lower body)
Healthy Extras
None
