Sunday Morning – With an earlier than usual 6:30 pm start time, the Caps conducted a super early morning skate on Sunday at Bell Centre, taking the ice at 9:45 am, prior to the home team’s skate, a rarity in the NHL. When they did so, Caps goaltender Logan Thompson was on the ice; he left Friday’s Game 3 with an injury late in the third period.
Caps forward Aliaksei Protas was a full participant in Sunday’s morning skate, and he is a possibility to return to the Washington lineup for tonight’s Game 4 against the Canadiens at Montreal’s Bell Centre. Protas left the ice on the early side, as opposed to staying out late with the healthy extras, as he has been doing, another indication that this could be the night for him.
As always at this time of year, we’ll find out for sure in warmups, or shortly thereafter.
“Just to start, an injury update,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery this morning, prior to taking questions from the media. “Logan skated this morning, Protas skated this morning. We’ll see how they are this afternoon, and then we’ll know at warmup if they’re good to go.”
Of course, if Protas returns to the Washington lineup, another player will need to come out.
“I'm not going to get into what players are potentially out for Protas,” says Carbery. “But it's a difficult decision, and that's a good position to be in as a head coach; we’ve got guys that are playing at a high level this time of year.
“There's some things that go into it, from a line combination standpoint, chemistry, who Pro has played with this year, where do guys fit, hands, different roles. There's a lot that goes into making the decision on who comes out of the lineup, but we take all those things into account and then obviously make a decision and go with it.”
Montreal will likely be starting rookie Jakub Dobes in goal tonight. Dobes relieved starter Sam Montembeault (lower body injury) midway through the second period of Friday’s Game 4. Montembeault did not skate this morning and is unlikely to dress for tonight’s pivotal Game 4.
The Caps will be looking to respond from an uncharacteristically sloppy Game 3 effort in which four of the six Montreal goals came directly off Washington turnovers.
“Of course they’re going to raise their level,” says Montreal coach Martin St. Louis of the Caps. “And so, for us, we’ve got to stay sharp. You’ve got to try to start the game the way we finished it, which is a hard task against the Washington team.”
Possession – When this series got underway in Washington last Monday, the Caps roared out of the gates and were dominant in the possession game early in the series. But over the last four periods, Montreal has turned those tables.
For the first five periods of the series – all of Game 1 and the first two frames of Game 2 – Washington had a total of 38:51 in offensive zone time at even strength, compared to 32:59 for Montreal, according to sportlogiq.com.
The Caps had 9:42 worth of offensive zone puck possession compared to 7:42 for the Canadiens. Those numbers resulted in a 32-14 lead for Washington in high danger scoring chances, and the possession advantage and the lopsided lead in high danger scoring chances resulted in a 4-2 edge in even strength scoring for the Caps over those five periods.
Since then, however, the Habs have swung the possession needle firmly in their favor. In the last four periods – the third period of Game 2 and all of Game 3 – Montreal has accumulated 31:25 in the offensive zone compared to 22:07 for Washington, and the Habs have had the puck on their stick for 8:16 of that time, compared to only 4:41 for the Caps.
“I think if you look at the first two periods of the first two games especially,” begins Caps forward Connor McMichael, “we were keeping it simple, we were chipping pucks behind them, forcing a lot of turnovers, being physical and holding onto pucks low, and maybe not looking for the perfect opportunity to attack. We were just getting pucks low to high and attacking the net. I think a lot more of that is needed tonight, especially in this building.”
Over the last four periods of the series, the Habs have owned a 19-15 advantage in high danger scoring chances, and that has translated into a 4-3 advantage on the scoreboard for Montreal over that span.
“I feel like at times, we’ve played really well,” says Caps winger Taylor Raddysh. “At home in the first two periods of both games, I feel like we handled the pressure and played our game. The puck was in our hands and the chances were there. [Friday] night, at times we played well, but they came out hard and played a really good game. We’ve got to get back to playing a full 60 [minutes] with our group, and obviously we’ve got to get back on our page [Sunday].”
Despite the shift in possession, the Caps are still generating a decent number of high danger scoring opportunities and goals relative to Montreal, but they’re not helping themselves on the turnover front.
Of its six even strength goals in the series to date, Montreal has scored five of them within 10 seconds of a Washington turnover.
“I think it’s just being smart with the puck,” says McMichael. “You’ve got to pick your poison, and know when there’s plays to be made, and know when the right time is to just get it behind them and live to fight another day. Last game, we were caught in between a little too much, and guys weren’t on the same page.
“When we play a lot more direct, guys are all on the same page and we know where pucks are going to end up. That’s when we’re at our best hockey, so it’s just getting back to that.”
Getting back to that is going to be important in the outcome of the series, which will shift significantly with the outcome of tonight’s Game 4, regardless of which team prevails. But it won’t be an easy task for the Caps on the road, where they don’t control the matchups.
“There’s a lot of different things we can do once we get [to the offensive zone], so let’s just stay there,” says Carbery. “Lets’s remove us moving the puck into their zone. Once we get there, being able to stay there is us being able to do a good job of supporting one another, making good decisions with the puck.
“I thought [Friday] night, some of our decisions with the puck were very, very sloppy. Once you get down into the offensive zone, it’s on us to make sure that if we’re going to make a play into the scoring area, it’s a high percentage play or it’s a play that we can complete. I thought we threw a ton of pucks away in those situations, so there’s one example. There’s puck recoveries, there’s all sorts of stuff that we have to do a better job of staying there.
“But I also would say that those other two zones, of getting to that point, of just even getting to that point [of entry into the offensive zone], of sustaining pressure and getting into the offensive zone. And our top six didn’t have a good night [Friday] night, and for them to get back into being able of what they did in Game 1 and Game 2 is going to be key [Sunday] night.”
Breathe Deep Not Loud – Game 3 of this series was played in Bell Centre on a Friday night, which would likely be a festive atmosphere in mid-November for a game pitting the Habs and any random Western Conference team. But hosting a full capacity playoff game for the first time since 2017, the building was full, fully partisan, extremely loud, and pulsing with energy and electricity on Friday night.
Whether that had anything to do with the Caps having an off night on the ice is debatable. Washington committed a series of unforced turnovers that led directly to Montreal goals in Friday’s game, but even with those miscues, the Caps and Habs were all even at 3-3 four minutes into the third period.
Regardless, the Caps have had a full game to adjust to the loud, boisterous and hostile environment of the Bell Centre, which will hopefully help them in dealing with in tonight’s Game 4.
“It was for sure a learning thing for our group, and it was obviously extremely loud, as you [heard],” says Raddysh. “We’ve got to find a way to deal with that noise and help each other as much as we can, just play simple at times and talk through the whole game. It’s going to be big for our group to handle that and try to get right into our structure and be simple and all on the same page.”
While there’s nothing quite like this building at this time of year anywhere else in the League, Carbery rightfully points out that Washington has had previous success in hostile road environments. The Caps were 25-13-3 on the road during the regular season, tied with Toronto for the best in the NHL.
“For me as a head coach, not to recognize the difficulties of playing in that environment would be naïve and silly of me,” says Carbery. “And that is something that you have to understand, and I have to understand, that there’s going to be significant challenges to playing on the road and in an environment like the Bell Centre and against a hungry team that’s down 2-0 that you know is going to fight with everything they’ve got to avoid going down 3-0.
“Understanding that is important in my shoes, and now we have to work we have to work through that and find ways to combat that. And the part of that I put on myself is finding the structure and the Xs and Os and the tactical part, is how can I help us work through the anxiousness, the crowd noise, not having last change, all the things that go into playing in a difficult environment. And then the other part is trying to make our players feel as confident as possible and make it as normal as possible and be successful in a difficult environment.
“And that’s why I mentioned [Friday] our success on the road. Because there’s no replication of what went on [Friday] night in the regular season through 82 games, there’s just not. But there are a ton of similar situations on the road – not to that degree – that prepare you for this moment. And us being successful in those moments should give us confidence that we’ll be able to play in this environment.
“Again, not to this degree, but going on the road in Toronto and playing very, very well at Scotiabank Centre, beating [the Maple Leafs] on the road without having last change and all the stuff that goes into it, should give us confidence. Going into Vegas, winning in a difficult place to play should give our guys confidence to be able to execute through that and play well in an environment not unlike it is here.”
In The Nets – Washington goaltender Logan Thompson and Montreal netminder Sam Montembeault both left Friday’s Game 3 with injuries, casting some doubt on their status and availability for the remainder of the series. Neither goalie skated on Saturday, but Thompson was back on the ice this morning for the Capitals at Bell Centre.
But despite Thompson’s presence on the ice Sunday morning, the identity of tonight’s starter for the Caps is still uncertain. Both Washington goaltenders – Thompson and Charlie Lindgren – left the ice simultaneously after Sunday's morning skate.
“Well coached,” quips a smiling Carbery. “I tell you all the time our team is very, very coachable.”
Thompson’s 2.7 goals saved above expected in this series (according to moneypuck.com) ranks fourth among goalies with at least two appearances in the playoffs to date.
“He’s a big part of our team; he’s been great in the series,” says Carbery of Thompson. “I was happy that it wasn’t anything significant that would keep him out for an extended period of time, so that was positive to see.”
Again on Sunday morning, Montembeault was not on the ice. The Habs have recalled goaltender Cayden Primeau from AHL Laval, and Primeau would likely serve as the backup for rookie Jakub Dobes, who took over for Montembeault midway through Game 3. Dobes stopped seven of the eight shots he faced in 28:21 of work.
During the regular season, Dobes posted a 7-4-3 record in 16 appearances (15 starts) with a shutout, a 2.74 GAA and a .909 save pct. A fifth-round choice (136th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft, Dobes debuted in the NHL on Dec. 28, 2024 in Florida, blanking the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers on 34 shots in Florida.
Dobes also defeated the Caps about two weeks later, on Jan. 10 in Washington. He earned his second NHL victory that night – a 3-2 overtime victory – by stopping 15 of 17 shots he faced in 61:15 of work.
“I think his first game,” said Dobes’ teammate Kaiden Guhle on Saturday, on what gives the Habs confidence in the 23-year-old rookie. “He gets thrown in against the defending Stanley Cup champs, gets a shutout. If you look at his first three or four games, they’re all [against] some of the top teams in the League, and he played well. So I have all the confidence in the world in Dobes.
“He’s got a lot of confidence in himself, which you need as a young goalie coming into the League. I think he believes that there’s no moment too big for him; I think he wants this moment, I think he is ready for anything that’s thrown at him. Obviously, we don’t know what’s really going on with Monty, but if Dobes is in the net [Sunday], all the boys have got confidence in him.”
All Lined Up – Here’s how the Capitals and the Canadiens might look for Sunday night’s Game 4 of the best-of-seven set between the two teams:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 72-Beauvillier
24-McMichael, 80-Dubois, 43-Wilson
88-Mangiapane, 20-Eller, 9-Leonard
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 16-Raddysh
Defensemen
6-Chychrun, 74-Carlson
3-Roy, 38-Sandin
27-Alexeyev, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Extras
25-Bear
33-Stevenson
52-McIlrath
53-Frank
Out/Injured
15-Milano (upper body)
19-Backstrom (hip)
21-Protas (lower body)
42-Fehervary (lower body)
77-Oshie (back)
MONTREAL
Forwards
13-Caufield, 14-Suzuki, 20-Slafkovsky
11-Gallagher, 28-Dvorak, 17-Anderson
15-Newhook, 71-Evans, 93-Demidov
51-Heineman, 91-Kapanen, 40-Armia
Defensemen
8-Matheson, 45-Carrier
21-Guhle, 48-Hutson
72-Xhekaj, 58-Savard
Goaltenders
75-Dobes
30-Primeau
Extras
47-Struble
55-Pezzetta
92-Laine
Out/Injured
31-Price (lower body)
35-Montembeault (lower body)
77-Dach (lower body)
