2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference QFs
Game 5: Montreal Canadiens (WC2) @ Washington Capitals (M1)
WSH leads 3-1
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the United States: ESPN
In the Capitals region: Monumental Sports Network
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet+
There’s no news of any lineup changes for either side tonight, but we do know that Jakub Dobeš will be called upon for the second consecutive game since Samuel Montembeault didn’t make the trip to D.C. There’s a possibility that the Washington Capitals will get Aliaksei Protas back for the game (that decision will be made at game time), while we aren’t quite sure what Alexandre Carrier’s status is for Montreal.
The Canadiens will need to find a way to bring more pace into the fight and break through the defences Washington put up in the neutral zone to contain them in Game 4. We saw on two occasions on the power play what the team is capable when it gets set up in the offensive zone, and the Habs need to get there more often to score more goals than the Capitals tonight, and hold off the end-or-series handshakes for at least another couple of days.
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 |
|---|---|
| #75 Jakub Dobeṧ | #30 Cayden Primeau |
Scratched: Michael Pezzetta. Jayden Struble
Injured: Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine, Samuel Montembeault
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 | #21 Aliaksei Protas |
| 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, Taylor Raddysh
Injured: Martin Fehervary, Sonny Milano, T.J. Oshie
