Game 27: Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: CityTV, Sportsnet East (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the Capitals region: Monumental Sports Network 2
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet+
Patrik Laine has played two games now and has goals in each. Montreal got just enough offence to win his Canadiens debut 2-1 in overtime versus the New York Islanders, and he provided a bit of breathing room with a 2-0 goal versus the Nashville Predators. It was just that type of boost he was acquired to provide in the off-season after the Canadiens lost so many one-goal games last season, and we’ve had a glimpse of what things could have looked like had he been able to start the season — and Montreal hadn’t needed a month to figure out how to play defence.
The wins came versus two disgruntled teams that didn’t get the boost they had hoped from off-season moves. Tonight’s opponent, the Washington Capitals, has proven to be one of the teams that had the most productive summer. After winning the Stanley Cup in 2018, Washington has failed to advance out of the first round of the playoffs since, which seemed to signal the end of the contending window in the Alexander Ovechkin era. Now, the team that relied so heavily on goaltending last season just to squeak into the playoff picture sits atop the Eastern Conference as the league’s top offensive team.
| Canadiens | Statistics | Capitals |
|---|---|---|
| 10-13-3 | Record | 18-6-2 |
| 48.3% (23rd) | Scoring-chances-for % | 53.1% (5th) |
| 2.81 (21st) | Goals per game | 4.04 (1st) |
| 3.58 (29th) | Goals against per game | 2.77 (7th) |
| 22.0% (13th) | PP% | 20.7% (16th) |
| 83.5% (3rd) | PK% | 83.3% (5th) |
| 0-1-0 | Head-to-Head Record | 1-0-0 |
Ovechkin enjoyed a great start to the season with 15 goals, but the Capitals have still been winning while he recovers from a leg fracture. Since he left on November 18, Washington is 5-2-1, and comes into the Bell Centre on an eight-game road winning streak.
The additions of Jakob Chychrun and Logan Thompson via trade have been working out very well. Chychrun already has eight goals from the blue line, and Logan Thompson has earned more starts than Charlie Lindgren, a goalie who earned a Vezina vote last season, with a .913 save percentage. Even Pierre-Luc Dubois has 17 points to give the team more scoring depth.
While those additions have been important, the progress of a couple of young players are the biggest story. Twenty-three-year-olds Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas are having breakout seasons, already approaching the point totals they had last year, and are two of the eight players on the roster with at least six goals on the year. There aren’t many games the Capitals can’t win when scoring four times a night.
Since Lindgren played last night in Toronto, it will be Thompson who gets the start tonight. It will be him, a goaltender who could have been on Team Canada’s roster for the 4 Nations tournament after his season so far, versus Samuel Montembeault, the player who was ultimately given that role. It should be a good goaltending battle, but you have to expect Montembeault to be the much busier of the goalies tonight versus one of the league’s top teams.
