Oct. 14 vs. Montreal Canadiens at Capital One Arena
Time: 7:30 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio Network
Montreal Canadiens (3-2-1)
Washington Capitals (3-3-0)
The Caps conclude a midweek set of back-to-backs and open a season-long five-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Montreal Canadiens.
With all 32 NHL teams in action on Tuesday night, the Caps and Canadiens are among the unlucky four that must travel and play again on Wednesday; Dallas visits Colorado out west. Following Wednesday’s game against the Habs, the Caps will play just three games in a span of 13 days – all of them at home – in an oddly paced homestand, to say the least.
The Caps spent Tuesday night in Carolina, facing the Canes for the second time in the young season. After downing the Canes 5-2 in Raleigh in its Oct. 2 season opener there, Washington twice forged one-goal leads over its hosts in the rematch, but it couldn’t build on those advantages.
Carolina turned the possession tides sharply against the Caps in the middle of the second. The Canes tied the game with 71 seconds left in the middle period, and then they won it by finally cashing in on their fifth straight power play in a span of less than 30 minutes of playing time. Andrei Svechnikov’s power-play goal – his second goal of the game – snapped a 2-2 tie with 6:04 left in regulation, helping Carolina win its sixth straight game.
“We’ve got a lot of young players that are learning to play in this league for the first time, and even second-year guys that are learning to navigate,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “Like [Ryan] Leonard; his [third-period, offensive-zone] penalty tonight can't happen, things like that.
“We'll just continue to correct them and continue to work with our guys and even our veteran guys, the new guys, learning how to – quote, unquote – play winning hockey for 60 straight minutes, especially against good teams and on the road.”
On the plus side of the ledger, veteran defenseman Justin Holl – recalled from AHL Hershey on Monday – showed well in his Washington debut, scoring the go-ahead goal early in the second period and playing well in just over a dozen minutes scattered over 15 shifts on the night.
“It felt good,” says the 34-year-old Holl, who logged nine late-season games with St. Louis in 2025-26. “Obviously, I want to play for the Caps, and to be able to get in there and contribute is good for me. We would rather win the game, obviously, but it's a long season. We're just going to have to learn some things and move forward.”
Carbery’s time as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs overlapped with Holl’s six seasons with the Leafs, so he’s familiar with the right-handed Minnesota native’s body of work.
“I thought he was great, scores a goal,” says Carbery of Holl’s debut with the Caps. “I have to go through the film a little bit because sometimes it’s hard to see a stay-at-home defenseman and see all his little nuances. But for the most part, surface level, standing there on the bench, I thought he was solid.”
As Washington now gets set to face the Habs for the first of three times this season, it is hopeful that center Pierre-Luc Dubois will be back in its lineup for Wednesday’s game. Dubois has been dealing with an illness since the weekend; it kept him out of games against Seattle and at Carolina, and he missed practice sessions on Saturday and Monday as well. When Dubois was limited to just 29 games last season, the Caps got plenty enough taste of life without him, and they’re a much better team with him in the lineup.
Those words also apply to defenseman Matt Roy, who has been sidelined with a lower body injury for the last four games. Roy is a critical component on the Caps’ back end and its penalty kill, he delivers reliable minutes and is always missed when not in the lineup. He has been skating on his own for a week or so, but is still listed as day-to-day.
Making his 200th career NHL start in Carolina, Logan Thompson was excellent in a losing effort on Tuesday against the Canes. Charlie Lindgren is the likely starter for Wednesday’s game against Montreal, the organization that gave him his NHL start a decade ago.
Montreal played at home on Tuesday night, slipping past the Sabres 4-3 in a shootout. The Habs got second-period goals from Cole Caufield and Josh Anderson to carry a 3-1 lead into the third, but Buffalo bounced back with a pair of goals 61 seconds apart early in the third. The Canadiens more than doubled up the visitors in shots, 38-17, and they ultimately prevailed in the shootout, scoring on all three attempts.
After yielding a combined total of 17 goals against in three straight losses from Oct. 3-8, the Habs have rebounded to win two straight shootout decisions at home. They edged Detroit 1-0 in a skills decision on Saturday before beating Buffalo in that fashion on Tuesday night.
