10 Thoughts: Habs play hard, play smart to beat Caps 6-2

The Canadiens were hosting the Washington Capitals for their third matchup of the season after the team from DC bullied them out of the first round of the playoffs last spring. Martin St-Louis swapped out Arber Xhekaj and Alexandre Texier for Jayden Struble and Zachary Bolduc to better match the Caps’ heavy forward lines. Jakub Dobes took his turn in net, while Washington started Charlie Lindgren, the longtime former Habs goaltending prospect.

As things turned out, Alexander Ovechkin poked in a pair of goals, but it was far from enough, as the Russian veteran was on ice for four (yes, four) Montreal goals and ended up with a -2 on the scoresheet. Mr. Saturday Night, Cole Caufield starred with two goals, Dobes was strong, and the team played a far smarter game with a lead than they had done against the Islanders, to finish with a 6-2 victory.

Starting Lines

Caufield – Suzuki – Dach
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov
Newhook – Evans – Bolduc
Anderson – Danault – Gallagher

Matheson – Guhle
Hutson – Dobson
Struble – Carrier

Dobes
Montembeault

Ten Thoughts

1) Caufield got the action started early, stripping the puck from Jakob Chychrun at the Montreal blue line and streaking off into a breakaway. Caufield kept Lindgren guessing until he was only six metres away, and then picked the top far corner, lifting the puck over Lindgren’s glove for an early lead–a relatively infrequent experience for this young Canadiens team.

2) Capitals’ tough guy Brandon Duhaime tried to start a fight at the six-minute mark by punching Noah Dobson after the whistle, in front of the Habs’ net. The referees let that one slide, but finally sent him to the box after he went after Kirby Dach at the other end of the ice. The ensuing power play showed little punch, though, with just one shot attempt in the two minutes. The Montreal power play managed controlled zone entries but their play was repeatedly broken up and cleared by the Caps’ penalty killers.

3) Thirteen minutes in, the Capitals managed to capitalize on the Habs’ mistakes, though. Dobson won a board battle in the defensive zone from Anthony Beauvillier, but failed to clear the zone with his shot. Dobes made an easy save on a Declan Chisholm slap shot from the blue line, but gave up a soft rebound, resulting in a loose puck amid a scramble of skaters in front of the net. The puck popped out on the opposite side of the net, and Ovechkin tapped it into the empty net for an equalizer. Now, Lane Hutson was there, an arm’s length away from Ovechkin, but somehow he did not notice the presence of the big Russian in front of the net.

4) Just a minute after that, Ovechkin got a dose of his own medicine at the Washington end of the ice, though. Jayden Struble’s shot from the top of the circle was blocked, as was Nick Suzuki’s shot on the rebound. But Suzuki grabbed his own rebound and sent it across the goal front to Caufield, who was being covered by Ovechkin. But an advantage of seven inches and 65 pounds didn’t appear to help Ovechkin as Caufield took the puck and put it in the net to move the Habs back in front, 2-1.

5) After a first half of the game remarkably free of penalties–only two minors in the first 30 minutes–Ryan Leonard decided to correct that issue by ripping the helmet off Kaiden Guhle’s head. The Canadiens’ second power play opportunity was significantly better than the sad attempt in the first, with much better control and six shot attempts. Caufield had a nice chance at a hat trick, but the scoring had to wait until just after the power play. Mike Matheson broke Alex Newhook free from the defensive zone with a good pass, and the speedy Newhook carried the puck to between the circles in the Washington zone, drawing two defenders. Newhook then passed back to Zachary Bolduc, who drew two more, freeing up Matheson. Bolduc made a clean pass to the veteran defender, and Matheson lifted the puck over Lindgren’s pad to pad the lead to two goals.

6) Aliaksei Protas nearly got the Capitals within one with three and a half minutes left in the second, as his shot rang off the left goalpost, behind Dobes. A goalpost is nice, but it always results in a loose puck somewhere, and it was Suzuki that picked up, skating along the boards and carrying the puck into the Washington zone. A pass to Dach, who got off a quick shot that beat Lindgren, just before being checked by Pierre-Luc Dubois and into Tom Wilson. Wilson fell awkwardly but returned for limited ice time in the third period.

7) With less than three minutes left in the second, Brendan Gallagher was called for knocking Chisholm’s stick out of his hands, giving the Capitals an opportunity to get back into the game. The penalty killers did outstanding work, though, giving the Capitals little to shoot at. The bleu blanc et rouge had the best scoring opportunity of this two-minute stretch, as Oliver Kapanen broke free with Matheson close behind in the centre. Kapanen got the puck to Matheson, but Matheson decided against shooting, trying to get it back to Kapanen instead. Alas, one pass too many (again).

8) Dobes looked solid, especially as the Capitals pressed hard for a second goal in the middle part of the third period. The highlights included a pretty glove save on a Connor McMichael breakaway and a rebound recovery during a late Noah Dobson penalty. In that latter play, with a scramble in front of the net, Dobson managed to sweep up the loose puck, push it between his pads, and then close them up to prevent any further play: a smart play to take away any further scoring chance.

9) Ovechkin managed to get Washington back within one with eight minutes remaining, though. With the Capitals controlling the play behind Dobes’s net, Ovechkin strolled in from the blue line to the front of the net, completely ignored by Dobson and Newhook, and one-timed a pass from Dylan Strome to bring the score to 4-2. How can this hulking forward be so invisible?

10) With Lindgren on the Washington bench in favour of one more forward, Suzuki stripped the puck from Ovechkin in the Washington zone, hitting the empty net with a backhander while Ovechkin watched with a stunned look. To put the final touch of icing on the cake, with the Capitals on a final power play, Jake Evans took a shot from the Montreal zone, just past Ovechkin and into the empty net, for a 6-2 final score.

HW Habs Three Stars

First Star: Cole Caufield (2g, 0a, 5 shots, +3, 16:19 TOI) once again lived up to his reputation as Mr. Saturday Night, scoring a pretty breakaway goal and then a workmanlike second one. With a personal xGF of 0.84, Caufield had multiple chances at a hat trick, but couldn’t quite put it together, in part thanks to the acrobatics of Charlie Lindgren in the Washington net.

Second Star: Jakub Dobes (29 shots, 27 saves, .931 SV%, +1.05 GSAx) was solid throughout the game, and could do little on the two Ovechkin goals, as the Habs defenders left the big forward free in front of an open net in each case. There wasn’t a need for Dobes to steal this game–a good thing in itself–but he provided the kind of reliable goaltending the team will need through the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs.

Third Star: Nick Suzuki (1g, 2a, 2 shots, +4, 18:25 TOI) steals the third star from Mike Matheson (1g, 0a, +4) thanks to the sneaky backhander that fooled Ovechkin. Apart from that, he made possible the second Caufield goal, did the hard work on the Dach goal, and repeatedly led rushes into the Washington zone. A strong game from the captain after a less-than-powerful appearance against the Islanders.