Both the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens hope to be quick studies in preparing for Game 2 of their best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday in Washington.
The Capitals took Game 1 Monday, but they went to overtime to get the 3-2 victory on Alex Ovechkin’s second goal of the night. It also doubled as the first overtime NHL postseason goal for the league’s recently crowned all-time goal-scoring leader.
The team with the Eastern Conference’s best regular-season record needed overtime because the Canadiens, who have just 13 players with postseason experience, rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game with a pair of third-period goals 5:13 apart.
Even with the two scores he allowed in the third period, Capitals goalie Logan Thompson played well, stopping 33 of 35 shots in his first action since leaving an April 2 contest at Carolina after the first period due to an upper-body injury.
Washington coach Spencer Carbery said he loved how his team played to start. The pressure the Capitals applied to the Habs during the first 20 minutes paid off as Ovechkin gave the hosts a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal with 1:26 left in the opening period. It reminded Carbery of when his team played its best hockey during the midpoint of the season.
“Give our guys a lot of credit for being able to turn that switch on, like you say, and hit the ground running in Game 1,” Carbery told reporters Tuesday. “Now that’s just the start. We’re going to have to find a way to string that (for) 60 (minutes) and making sure that it continues on through three periods and not just two.”
Anthony Beauvillier doubled Washington’s lead in the second period. The journeyman forward also set up Ovechkin’s game-winner, and Dylan Strome assisted on all three Capitals goals.
Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki rallied the Canadiens in the third period with their tallies (rookie Lane Hutson assisted on both). Not only were they the top scorers for Montreal this season, but they were also part of the 2021 Stanley Cup finalist team, the last Habs squad to make the postseason.
Canadiens netminder Sam Montembeault withstood the pressure from the Capitals to make 29 saves in his postseason debut.
Montreal coach Martin St. Louis, who played in 107 Stanley Cup playoff games during his 16-season career, likened making a postseason debut to facing a Major League Baseball pitcher throwing 98 miles per hour for the first time.
At first, he told reporters Tuesday, you likely would not make contact, but eventually that would change. He felt that many of his youngsters were able to catch up during the game.
“Did we calm down through that game a little bit? Yes, I think our nerves were better in the second half of that game,” he said. “And I hope we can start the game (Wednesday) … for a young team, I don’t know, but I hope we can start the game in that kind of mindset.
“Just have a calm mind, understand what Washington is good at and try to execute through that.”
–Field Level Media
