Canadiens hope home crowd in Game 3 vs. Capitals 'exactly what we need'

ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Montreal Canadiens head home after losing the first two games of the Eastern Conference First Round to the Washington Capitals, hoping the support of a passionate sellout crowd at Bell Centre will give them the lift they need to change their fortunes in Game 3 of the best-of-7 series on Friday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MNMT, MAX).

“There’s nothing like playing at home, especially at the Bell Centre, with our fans, in the playoffs,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said before the team returned to Montreal on Thursday. “I think it will be exactly what we need.”

The Canadiens were 23-12-6 at Bell Centre during the regular season, but this will be their first Stanley Cup Playoff game there since a 3-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final in their only win during that series; attendance was limited to 3,500 because of COVID-19 restrictions in Quebec at the time.

So the Canadiens haven’t taken the ice for a playoff game at a full Bell Centre since a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Rangers in front of 21,288 fans for Game 5 of the 2017 Eastern Conference First Round. Montreal lost that series in six games.

Defenseman Mike Matheson, a native of Pointe-Claire, Quebec, was at Bell Centre as a fan when the Canadiens hosted the Rangers during the 2014 Eastern Conference Final and is looking forward to experiencing that postseason atmosphere on the ice for the first time.

“I think my expectations are pretty high, but I feel like they'll be exceeded still,” Matheson said. “I think it's going to be really special for us to come back and have them give us a huge boost going into Game 3. Obviously, the playoffs, your home games are so important, and we've been good all year in the Bell Centre and so much of it is because of our fans and how loud they are and how much energy they bring, so definitely excited for us.”

The Canadiens understand it will take more than just a loud crowd to help them change their fortunes against the Capitals, but they weren’t completely unsatisfied with how they played in the first two games, particularly in the third periods. Montreal battled back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period before losing 3-2 in overtime in Game 1 on Monday.

After falling behind 2-1 in the second period of Game 2 on Wednesday, Montreal made a similar push and outshot Washington 14-5 in the third period, but could not break through against goalie Logan Thompson before center Connor McMichael's empty-net goal with two seconds remaining clinched a 3-1 loss.

“I think our group feels that we can play with them,” St. Louis said. “We’ve got to find more minutes of good hockey, like our brand. And it’s hard because ‘Wash’ is a really good team. But can we get five, six, seven, eight more minutes? And you’re not necessarily going to get them stacked together because ‘Wash’ is a good team, but can you extend that a little bit and find it?”

Having the last change on home ice will give St. Louis the opportunity to get his top line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky away from Pierre-Luc Dubois' line, if he wishes, and perhaps find some more favorable matchups.

“Having the last change always helps,” St. Louis said. “Always.”

St. Louis tried cutting down to three lines and sitting forward Patrik Laine in the third period Wednesday. Laine, who had an assist in Game 1 after he had 33 points (20 goals, 13 assists) in 52 regular-season games, was the only Canadiens player not to get a shift in the third period after he had one shot on goal and five shot attempts in 10:10 of ice time during the first two.

St. Louis avoided singling out Laine, though, when asked Thursday if the Canadiens need a higher level from him.

"I'm repeating myself, but it's everyone. Not one guy or two guys, it's everyone," St. Louis said. "Collectively, can we stretch it to our end a bit more? And it definitely starts with the individuals."

Montreal needs to find a way to score more after totaling three goals in the first two games, one each from Caufield, Suzuki and center Christian Dvorak, and do a better job of defending. Washington has a 23-8 advantage in high-danger shots on goal, according to NHL EDGE stats, through the first two games.

Sam Montembeault, who stopped 58 of 63 shots (.921 save percentage) in the first two games, has helped keep the Canadiens within striking distance during the third period of each game, but they essentially fell a goal short each time.

"You can take that for what you want," Suzuki said. "I don't think we’ve shown our best, and hopefully going home it’ll be exciting for everyone, and need to get those two home wins and the series is even."

Montreal was the underdog entering the series as the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference against favored Washington, which finished first in the conference. Those roles haven’t changed through the first two games, but the Canadiens are undeterred.

"We've shown a lot of moments: both third periods of both games," Matheson said. "Our first period last night was better. We've shown that we can compete with them. There were a number of chances down the stretch last game that the puck could have gone in. I think we've proven that we can play with them and make this a series, for sure."