The Montreal Canadiens put up quite the fight in the third period on Wednesday night. Down 2-1 to the Washington Capitals in game two of the series, they played their absolute best in the final frame, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the one-goal deficit they created with their play in the second period. The good news is that the series will now shift to the friendly confines of the Bell Centre, but the bad news is that it will do so with the Capitals holding a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.
The even worse news is that the Capitals are apparently permitted to cross check Habs players in the face whenever they would like to.
This officiating is a complete travesty of the game. Three cross checks to the faces of Habs over two games and not one call. pic.twitter.com/brRd0GDpO7
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) April 24, 2025
I know I’ll get accused of blaming the refs for the loss, so let’s get that argument out of the way immediately. There is no guarantee whatsoever that the Habs score, even if the ref staring at the play calls this extremely obvious penalty. Frankly, their performance on the power play in the second period wasn’t inspiring. Moreover, their performance in that second period as a whole was a pretty obvious culprit for why they lost. They still deserved a fair shake in the third, and didn’t get one.
And when it comes to this type of play, the officials have shown great favouritism towards the Capitals since game one.
At this point I'm not convinced the refs aren't actively encouraging the Capitals to cross check Gallagher in the face. pic.twitter.com/YqficNzF7Z
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) April 24, 2025
This was Brendan Gallagher’s second time getting hit directly in the mouth, the first coming back in game one. When it was just him getting hit, one could wonder if it was simply the officials continuing their years-long vendetta against him. Now that they’re not calling it against other players on the team as well, either they’ve completely forgotten what cross-checking is, or they’ve decided that it is in fact legal in this series.
Or, given that they called this cross-checking, maybe they’ve decreed it legal only for one team.
lmao pic.twitter.com/uftMoB7aN8
— ava (@teapottoffoIi) April 23, 2025
At this point, Martin St-Louis has no choice, he has to dress Arber Xhekaj for game three. If the officials are going to permit, nay encourage the Caps to attempt unlicensed dentistry as a leisure activity, the Habs need to show that they’re not standing for it. Given the way this series has been officiated, he’ll likely get extra penalties for responding, but what other choice do they have? Washington is being given cheap shot after cheap shot, and nothing comes from it.
David Savard had another rough night. Give him the next one off, throw Xhekaj in there, and make damn sure he understands the assignment. The officials are surely willing to allow Washington to waltz into the Bell Centre and continue aiming their sticks at the teeth of the Habs’ forwards, but they can’t just sit back and take it anymore.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back for game three this Friday night, when the series will shift to the Bell Centre.
