2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference QFs
Game 3: Montreal Canadiens (WC2) vs. Washington Capitals (M1)
WSH leads 2-0
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the United States: TNT, truTV
In the Capitals region: Monumental Sports Network
Streaming: Max, Sportsnet+
There are some indications of lineup changes for the Canadiens for Game 3 of their series with the Washington Capitals. Through a couple of matches Montreal has been quite competitive, and suddenly the focus is shifting from just getting some playoff experience to potentially making it a long series, or even advancing out of the first round. To do that, the team needs its best 18 skaters active, and that wasn’t the case for the first two games of this series.
It appears that Arber Xhekaj will be playing his first ever NHL playoff game, and Patrik Laine was missing from the team’s practice this morning. The two players have been much discussed with how the series has played out so far, and that will only continue with any lineup changes we’re due to see.
Montreal didn’t lose a single game at the Bell Centre after the venue hosted the 4 Nations Face-Off. The Canadiens’ play at home got them into the post-season, and now they’ll hope it will extend the team’s season beyond the next two games in Montreal.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #13 Cole Caufield | #14 Nick Suzuki | #20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #17 Josh Anderson | #28 Christian Dvorak | #11 Brendan Gallagher |
| #15 Alex Newhook | #71 Jake Evans | #93 Ivan Demidov |
| #51 Emil Heineman | #91 Oliver Kapanen | #40 Joel Armia |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #21 Kaiden Guhle | #48 Lane Hutson |
| #8 Mike Matheson | #45 Alexandre Carrier |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj | #58 David Savard |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| #35 Samuel Montembeault | #75 Jakub Dobeṧ |
Scratched: Michael Pezzetta. Jayden Struble
Injured: Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine
Washington Capitals projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #8 Alexander Ovechkin | #17 Dylan Strome | #72 Anthony Beauvillier |
| #24 Connor McMichael | #80 Pierre-Luc Dubois | #43 Tom Wilson |
| #88 Andrew Mangiapane | #20 Lars Eller | #9 Ryan Leonard |
| #22 Brandon Duhaime | #26 Nic Dowd | #16 Taylor Raddysh |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #6 Jakob Chychrun | #74 John Carlson |
| #3 Matt Roy | #38 Rasmus Sandin |
| #27 Alexander Alexeyev | #57 Trevor van Riemsdyk |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| #48 Logan Thompson | #79 Charlie Lindgren |
Scratched: Ethen Frank, Dylan McIlrath
Injured: Martin Fehervary, Sonny Milano, T.J. Oshie, Aliaksei Protas
