ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens each believe they have room to improve heading into Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Capital One Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; MNMT, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).
The Capitals survived letting a two-goal, third-period lead slip away, thanks to Alex Ovechkin scoring the first Stanley Cup Playoff overtime goal of his career to give them a 3-2 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-7 series Monday. Washington knows it can't afford to let up again in Game 2, though.
"We played like we didn't want to give up the lead and you've got to play on your front foot, you've got to play attacking," forward Dylan Strome said after the Capitals morning skate Wednesday. "If we do that, I feel like we're going to have success."
The Canadiens will try to build off how they played in the third when they pressured the Capitals in their end and erased a 2-0 deficit in the final 9:28 of regulation. Montreal will need to find a better way to handle Washington's forecheck and physical play early after getting off to a slow start.
"They bring a really hard forecheck and, for us, it's managing pucks outside the D-zone and giving our team a break from that D-zone," Canadiens forward Jake Evans said. "We did that halfway through the second and into the third We kind of brought our forecheck and got them on their heels."
Montreal also needs to find an answer for Ovechkin. Following up scoring 44 goals in the regular season and breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL goal record by scoring his 895th on April 6, the 39-year-old left wing had three points (two goals, one assist) and a game-high seven hits Monday.
"Five-on-five you've got to be aware when he's on the ice, and it's not necessarily winning your shift when he's on the ice, but you can't lose a lot of shifts when he's on the ice," Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. "You've got to deny his touches in the O-zone, you've got to play him tight."
Neither team is expected to make any lineup changes from Game 1. Teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-7 series own an all-time series record of 353-56 (.863), including 266-34 (.887) when starting at home.
Washington hasn't taken a 2-0 lead in a playoff series since it won the first two games on home ice against the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2019 first round. Carolina came back to win in seven games.
Here is a breakdown of Game 2:
Canadiens: The top line of Cole Caufield (plus-16 in 5-on-5 shot attempts differential), Nick Suzuki (plus-17) and Juraj Slafkovsky (plus-17) had a strong Game 1, producing Montreal's lone 5-on-5 goal, scored by Suzuki to tie the score at 2-2 at 15:45 of the third period, when Montreal had a 32-16 advantage in shot attempts. The power play showed signs of life after it was 3-for-27 in their final 12 regular-season games, going 1-for-2 in Game 1, including Caufield's goal at 10:32 that started their comeback. Forward Brendan Gallagher is expected to play after he was the only Canadiens' player not to practice Tuesday.
Capitals: Forward Aliaksei Protas (skate cut on left foot) skated on his own again before the morning skate, taking an additional step by doing individual work with skills coach Kenny McCudden, but is expected to miss his eighth straight game, including the final six of the regular season. Washington announced Tuesday that defenseman Martin Fehervary is out for the playoffs after having surgery Monday to repair the meniscus in his right knee. The Capitals delivered 27 of their 42 hits in Game 1 against Canadiens defensemen, including eight on Alexandre Carrier. The power play went 1-for-2 in Game 1, continuing a hot streak from the end of the regular season when Washington was 10-for-26 its final 10 games.
Numbers to know: 15-4. The Capitals' advantage in high-danger shots on goal in Game 1, according to NHL EDGE. Washington scored two of its three goals from the high-danger area, including Ovechkin's overtime winner.
What to look for: Can the Capitals continue to punish the Canadiens defensemen physically and will those hits take a toll as the series progresses? Will the Canadiens play with confidence from the start after getting over their initial nerves with seven players making their NHL playoff debuts in Game 1?
