2 weeks Ago By The Hockey News - Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens players had made it clear that they expected their house to be intimidating for game three of their first-round series against the Washington Capitals, and it certainly was. Ramped up by a brilliant pregame montage, the fans were ready to tear the Bell Centre roof off. Former Montreal Canadiens Player BelievesWill Moore is a Wild Card in This DraftCanadiens: Lajoie Says Arber Xhekaj Will PlayIn the series Inside the Rebuild, France Margaret Belanger and Geoff Molson discussed the torch being a tired concept, but the 21,105 fans who packed the Habs’ house strongly disagreed.
After the initial montage narrated by Kevin Owen, the Jumbotron showed a cowboy-like man bringing the torch, and the ice lit up to the crowd’s delight. The cheers were so loud that it was impossible to hear Michel Lacroix’s traditional “Accueillons nos Canadiens!”.🔥🔥🔥#GoHabsGopic.
twitter.com/In3FFqfVER— x - Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 25, 2025An Improved Power PlayWith Patrik Laine out of action thanks to an upper-body injury, Cole Caufield was back in his old spot on the man advantage, and Ivan Demidov was promoted to the first power-play unit. While they failed to convert on their first opportunity, there was much more movement and less predictability.
Caufield unleashed six shots in the first frame, and while none of them went in, he kept Logan Thompson on high alert. The sniper kept trying to beat the netminder on the near side, but there was nothing there. Having two highly creative puck movers on the first unit was a definite plus for the Habs.
`Tempers Running WildAt the end of an eventful second period, Jakub Dobes, who had to come in relief for the injured Samuel Montembeault, was trying to get to the Habs bench but was crowded by the Capitals. Washington had just given up a third goal with 8.6 seconds left in the period and wasn’t exactly pleased with the state of affairs.
The Canadiens came to the rescue of their netminder, and somehow, Anderson, Tom Wilson, and a linesman ended up on the bench, with the two players throwing punches around the linesman. Spencer Carbery had the best seats in the house, and he was just about to exit the bench when he saw the convoy heading his way and wisely backed off.Both got 10 minutes of misconduct and two for roughing to start the third, meaning the Habs didn’t have to worry about Wilson for more than half the period, which provided the Canadiens’ defensemen with a welcome break from the physical abuse.
Caufield’s NightSince December, Caufield has lost his favorite spot on the power play. On Friday night, he got it back, and he had himself a game. The Canadiens had 40 shots on net, but the sniper had 11 just by himself.
He actually had to look twice at the stat sheet, not quite believing it at first. In under 20 minutes of play, he gathered a goal and an assist, showing remarkable poise to score with seconds left in the second frame.The whole first line shone brightly in that 6-3 win.
Juraj Slafkovsky, who started the game with a series-leading nine shots on goal, added five more and landed three hits. The youngster had said his team needed to play a near-perfect game to win over the Capitals, and that’s exactly what they did. Xhekaj’s ArrivalThe Bell Centre crowd was overjoyed to see Arber Xhekaj back in the lineup in the warmup.
When he was shown on the Jumbotron, the building went crazy. In just over 10 minutes of ice time, the gritty blueliner provided a solid effort, landed four hits, and only got a two-minute roughing penalty for the end-of-second-period incident. He didn’t have a showdown with Wilson, but Sportsnet’s camera caught them exchanging words in the warmup.
We’ll never know what was said, but this first playoff game was a success. When asked to evaluate his performance, Martin St-Louis said:I think he played a good game. Arber has my full confidence.
I know we took him out of the lineup, and there were maybe 10 games left in the year. I didn’t know how long he’d be out; we had to take a defenseman out, and then we went on to when six games in a row, it was hard to make changes. But you get taken in a specific direction, Arber has my complete confidence, and I know what he brings, and it’s not just physicality, he can play hockey too, he gave us good minutes tonight.
- Martin St-Louis on Arber Xhekaj's performanceMeanwhile, the Caps’ coach wasn’t impressed with his team’s performance, but he explained it this way:We weren’t very good with the puck, so I think it’s firmness, it’s a little bit of poise and nerves in that environment. - Spencer Carbery on his team's performanceAsked if that surprised him, he answered: A little bit, but it’s understandable. We’ve shown better all year long, and we just weren’t very good tonight, so we’ll regroup and get ready for game four.
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] It will take our absolute best to win the series; we will have to be at our best for game four, game five, and the rest of the series to win the series. - The Canadiens are now down 2-1 in the series and could tie it up with a similar performance in game four on Sunday night. The question is, however, who will be in the net for both teams? Logan Thomspon also had to exit the game.
How serious is Montembeault’s injury? Do not expect answers on Saturday, since St-Louis has given his men a well-deserved day off. Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story. Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.
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