The Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens four games to one in the first round of the NHL playoffs, advancing to the second round since winning the Cup in 2018. They made the playoffs for the 2024-2025 season as the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. The team is playing the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round, who finished second, just behind the Capitals, in the Metropolitan Division. The Canes defeated their opponent, the New Jersey Devils, in five games.
Nearing the playoffs, the play of the Capitals was pretty inconsistent and disorganized. They lost seven out of the last ten games of their regular season. In their defense, they have clinched their seeding and home ice early, so there might have been less motivation to try and play their hardest and risk further injuries.
Speaking of injuries, their second pair d-man Martin Fehervary was injured a week before the playoffs and is out for the remainder of the season. Their star breakout winger, Aliaksei Protas, just returned to action in game five of the first-round series. He was also injured right before the playoffs began. Despite some struggles towards the end of the season for the team, their fan base was not worried, as the team is so close-knit and has battled through so much adversity this season. They were first in comeback wins in the NHL through the regular season with 25.
Both the Caps and the Canadians could not wait to get the series started. It was a matchup of an older and experienced team vs a younger team that went to the cup finals on an insane run in 2021, ultimately losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.
Before game one of the Caps’ first match-up, Capital One Arena was buzzing, and every fan was ecstatic for the puck drop in D.C. The Capitals would claim game one by the score of 3-2 in overtime, with star winger and goal scorer Alex Ovechkin leading the way with two goals and his first career overtime game-winning goal. The momentum from game one would continue in game two, as Washington defeated Montreal 3-1, thanks in part to center Connor McMichael scoring two goals.
Montreal dominated game three with a final score of 6-3 despite Ovechkin and McMichael scoring again, while Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson got injured, only to miraculously return in game four. The Caps rebounded well from the loss, claiming game four 5-2, with first-line center Dylan Strome getting his seventh point in four games. Strome would lead the Capitals to close out the series with another two-point night and an assist on another Ovi goal (his fourth of the series) in a series-deciding game five.
Washington just began its round two battle against the Canes. Although they have suffered a loss by the score of 2-1 (OT) in their first game, there are still plenty of games to play in what is still a wonderful and exciting season for the team.
“I think the season was awesome, we finished second or third in the league. But I think it doesn’t matter now, the Caps need to focus on their run because we saw the first-place team in the league, the Winnipeg Jets, barely beat the 14th team in the league. Anything is possible,” sophomore WJ hockey player Josh Taubinkubel said.
UPDATE: Capitals have won game two by the score of 3-1. They got goals from McMichael, Carlson, and Wilson. Following the win, the team got beaten on the opposing team’s territory in game three, 4-0, after having a pretty strong start. Game four was not promising for the team as they got beaten by a pretty big score yet again, this time 5-2. Washington is now facing elimination, with Carolina being up 3-1 in the series.
The Capitals have been officially eliminated from the playoffs, losing game five at home 3-1.
