Canadiens at Capitals, Eastern Conference 1st Round Game 1 preview

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Logan Thompson appears ready to start for the Washington Capitals when they host the Montreal Canadiens for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Capital One Arena on Monday (7 p.m. ET; MNMT, ESPN, SN, TVAS).

Thompson, who has not played since sustaining an upper-body injury in the first period of a 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on April 2, was the first goalie of the ice following Washington’s morning skate, often an indicator of the starting goalie. He was a full participant in practice Saturday and Sunday.

Coach Spencer Carbery declined to name the Capitals’ Game 1 starter, though, saying the media will have to wait for warmups.

“You’ll find out then,” Carbery said.

Thompson reached 30 wins for the first time in his five-season NHL career, going 31-6-6 with a 2.49 goals-against average, .910 save percentage and two shutouts in 43 games (42 starts) this season. The 28-year-old is 2-2 with a 2.35 GAA and .921 save percentage in four starts in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, all last season with the Vegas Golden Knights, who traded him to the Capitals on June 29.

Charlie Lindgren started five of Washington’s final seven regular-season games in Thompson’s absence. The 31-year-old was 20-14-3 with a 2.73 GAA, .896 save percentage and one shutout in 39 games (38 starts) this season.

Sam Montembeault will make his first NHL playoff start for Montreal. The 28-year-old also topped 30 wins for the first time in his six NHL seasons, going 31-24-7 with a 2.82 GAA, .902 save percentage and four shutouts, in an NHL career-high 62 regular-season games (60 starts).

“After eight years, it’s about time I get to play some playoff hockey,” said Montembeault, who was selected by the Florida Panthers in the third round (No. 77) of the 2015 NHL Draft before being claimed off waivers by Montreal in 2021. “But I’m really excited being able to do it with this team.”

Although Washington (51-22-9) is the top seed in the Eastern Conference, it has not won a playoff series since it won the Stanley Cup in 2018. Montreal (40-31-11) went 7-1-2 in its final 10 games to qualify as the second wild card into the playoffs from the East and will make its first postseason appearance since losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

Here is a breakdown of Game 1:

Canadiens: Lane Hutson set a Montreal record for a rookie defenseman with 66 points (six goals, 60 points) in 82 games and the 21-year-old tied Larry Murphy’s NHL record for most assists by a rookie defenseman. Center Nick Suzuki was fourth in the NHL with 37 points (15 goals, 22 assists) in 26 games after the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. Montreal’s power play was 3-for-27 (11.1 percent) during its last 12 games. Montreal has the youngest team in the playoffs, with an average age of 26 years old, but has six players remaining from its 2021 Cup Final team: Suzuki and fellow forwards Cole Caufield, Brendan Gallagher, Joel Armia, Josh Anderson and Jake Evans.

Capitals: Forward Aliaksei Protas (skate cut on left foot) and defenseman Martin Fehervary (lower body) are expected to miss Game 1. Carbery said he expects Protas to play at some point during the series. Protas was third on Washington during the regular season with an NHL career-high 30 goals, behind Alex Ovechkin (44) and Tom Wilson (33), and tied with Pierre-Luc Dubois for third with an NHL career-best 66 points, behind Dylan Strome (82) and Ovechkin (73). Washington was second in the NHL in scoring at 3.49 goals per game. Ovechkin, the Capitals all-time leader in playoff goals (72), points (141) and games (151), was held without a point in a postseason series for the first time in his NHL career when they were swept by the New York Rangers in the first round last season.

Number to know: 66. The number of days before Canadiens rookie forward Ivan Demidov was born (Dec. 10, 2005) that Ovechkin made his NHL debut (Oct. 5, 2005).

What to look for: Can the Capitals pressure the Canadiens defensemen, particularly Hutson, with their forecheck and force them to play in their end? Can the Canadiens utilize their speed to counterattack and convert on scoring chances on the rush?

What they are saying

“I think we believe in our group that we can create a surprise here and beat them. I think it’s going to be a big challenge. They obviously played really well all year, but I think for us it’s just to stay in the moment and go with Game 1. Guys are really excited to be in the playoffs and get going, and we’ve just got to stay in the moment.” – Canadiens defenseman David Savard

“They got in because they deserve it. They're a good team. They've got some good players. They've got some exciting players [with] skill and they've got that youthfulness to them, so it's going to be challenging. We have to concentrate on what we have to do. After that, we'll control what we can.” -- Capitals center Pierre-Luc Dubois

Canadiens projected lineup

Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Juraj Slafkovsky

Josh Anderson -- Christian Dvorak -- Brendan Gallagher

Patrik Laine-- Alex Newhook -- Ivan Demidov

Emil Heineman -- Jake Evans -- Joel Armia

Mike Matheson -- Alexandre Carrier

Kaiden Guhle -- Lane Hutson

Jayden Struble -- David Savard

Sam Montembeault

Jakub Dobes

Scratched: Arber Xhekaj, Michael Pezzetta, Oliver Kapanen

Injured: None

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Dylan Strome -- Anthony Beauvillier

Connor McMichael -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Tom Wilson

Andrew Mangiapane -- Lars Eller -- Ryan Leonard

Brandon Duhaime -- Nic Dowd -- Taylor Raddysh

Jakob Chychrun -- John Carlson

Rasmus Sandin -- Matt Roy

Alex Alexeyev -- Trevor van Riemsdyk

Logan Thompson

Charlie Lindgren

Scratched: Ethen Frank, Dylan McIlrath, Ethan Bear, Clay Stevenson

Injured: Martin Fehervary (lower body), Aliaksei Protas (lower body), Sonny Milano (upper body)

Status report

The Canadiens did not hold a morning skate. … Thompson could return after missing the final seven games of the regular season because of an upper-body injury. … Protas, a forward who missed the final six games because of a skate cut on his left foot sustained against the Chicago Blackhawks on April 4, skated before the start of the Capitals morning skate.