Back-to-Back – The Caps finish up a set of back-to-back games tonight in Montreal, finishing up their season series with the Canadiens. Friday night in Washington, the Caps eked out a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights, their sixth win in their last seven games (6-1-0) and their third in succession.
P-L Dubois had a pair of goals and an assist on in Friday night’s win, and he has three goals and five points in three games since his return to the lineup.
“You just saw a perfect example [Friday] night of how important he is to our team, and how much he means to our group, especially with [Aliaksei Protas] and [Tom Wilson],” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “They deserve a lot of credit there too. It's just a really solid line in a bunch of different ways. They can check, they’re physical, they're obviously big in stature, and then also they can contribute offensively, which you saw [Friday] night. And then they play against [Jack] Eichel’s line and do a pretty good job against them as well.
“So, a good night for them. Our whole group was pretty good for 40 minutes, and I was happy with the way that it looked for a majority of the game.”
The trio of Dubois with Protas and Wilson logged just under 200 minutes together last season; Connor McMichael was deployed more frequently as the left wing with Dubois and Wilson last season. But in 192 minutes and 22 seconds together last season, the Protas-Dubois-Wilson line outscored the opposition by a 13-5 count overall and a 10-2 count in high danger goals for/against.
“I feel like, Dubie is one of the best guys with his 200-foot game,” says Protas. “He's really playing hard at both ends of the ice. He's really smart. And obviously when Willie is there, the other team knows, and it's for sure that puts the pressure on them, too. And sometimes they just give the puck away when they see Willie. It's easy to play with those guys, we’re on the same page, just predictable. It’s worked so far, so don't stop on that.”
Tighten Up – Dating back to a 4-2 win over Nashville on Feb. 5 in their last game ahead of the Olympic break, the Caps have yielded two or fewer goals against in three straight games, doing so for the first time since they strung four such games together from Nov. 28-Dec. 3.
The play of Logan Thompson in goal is a primary driver of that defensive success, as is the return of Dubois. But the Caps have also limited their opponents to 30 or fewer shots on net in seven straight games, their longest streak of the season and longest in nearly five years, since a seven-game run from April 13-27, 2021.
“We're trying to do a better job; I can just tell you that,” says Carbery. “I think offensively, we've been a pretty good team at 5-on-5 the entire year. Defensively, we've just been okay. And I know there's a lot that goes into that – Dubie’s injury, this and that – which are fair points. But at the end of the day, if we can't defend at a high level and check and make sure that we're limiting what we're giving up, we're going to struggle to string wins [together] or be consistent in this League.
“So, I think that was one [thing] coming back from the break of just doing a little bit better job. It's not an overhaul. It's not like we’ve got to go from here all the way to here. We’ve just got to defend a little bit better. And we have coming out of the break, which has been good to see.”
In The Nets – A night after Logan Thompson defeated his former employer – the Vegas Golden Knights – with a 24-save performance, Charlie Lindgren gets the net for Saturday’s game in Montreal, facing the team that gave him his start in the NHL.
Following his junior season at St. Cloud State, Lindgren signed with Montreal as an undrafted college free agent on March 30, 2016. Just over a week later, Lindgren started and won his NHL debut with a 26-save performance in a 4-2 win over the Hurricanes on April 7, 2016.
After five seasons in the Montreal organization, Lindgren signed with St. Louis in the summer of 2021.
Tonight, Lindgren makes his first start in nearly a month, since he authored a 4-3 shootout win over the Red Wings in Detroit on Jan. 29, a game in which he suffered a lower body injury at the conclusion of overtime, an ailment that kept him out of action until after the Olympic break.
Lifetime against the Canadiens, Lindgren is 4-1-0 in six appearances – all starts – with a 2.83 GAA and an .889 save percentage.
For Montreal, sophomore goaltender Jakub Dobes will be between the pipes tonight. On the season, he is 18-5-4 with a 2.96 GAA and an .892 save pct. in 27 appearances (26 starts).
Lifetime against Washington, Dobes is 1-1-0 in two appearances – one start – with a 3.57 GAA and an .857 save percentage.
All Down The Line – Here’s how the Caps and the Canadiens might look on Saturday night in Montreal:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 72-Beauvillier
21-Protas, 80-Dubois, 43-Wilson
24-McMichael, 34-Sourdif, 9-Leonard
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 53-Frank
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 57-van Riemsdyk
6-Chychrun, 3-Roy
47-Chisholm, 38-Sandin
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
48-Thompson
Healthy Extras
29-Lapierre
52-McIlrath
Injured/Out
74-Carlson
MONTREAL
Forwards
13-Caufield, 14-Suzuki, 77-Dach
20-Slafkovsky, 91-Kapanen, 93-Demidov
17-Anderson, 24-Danault, 11-Gallagher
76-Bolduc, 71-Evans, 15-Newhook
Defensemen
8-Matheson, 21-Guhle
48-Hutson, 53-Dobson
47-Struble, 45-Carrier
Goalies
75-Dobes
35-Montembeault
Healthy Extras
72-Xhekaj
85-Texier
90-Veleno
Injured/Out
92-Laine (lower body)
