Time for Canadiens to act on lessons learned in losses
The young Canadiens now have two games worth of playoff lessons in their back pockets. As the series moves to Montreal, they must turn those lessons into actions.
admin
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Juraj Slafkovsky’s face was flushed and his voice was trembling as he repeated several times that his Montreal Canadiens just needed to play better following a 3-1 loss that put them down 2-0 in their series with the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old was one of seven Canadiens playing just their second Stanley Cup Playoff game. Their first one on Monday had already taught them so much about what post-season hockey entails.
It’s something they had watched many times but nothing they’d ever felt, and there was no way to understand it without experiencing it.
The lessons came as hard and fast as Tom Wilson on the forecheck. And just when the Canadiens felt they were absorbed, after punching back hard in a dominant third period before losing Game 1 in overtime, there was another one on deck in Game 2 — that the Capitals could take their performance to another level.
There’s value in understanding that now.
-
-
Watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sportsnet
The NHL’s best are ready to battle for the right to hoist the Stanley Cup. Watch every game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ beginning on April 19.
It’s also valuable for the Canadiens to know they were right there in both games, even if there were times in which it felt like they were miles apart from the Capitals, whose sustained pressure proved to be the difference.
Both these games were essentially settled by one goal — Connor McMichael made it two in Game 2 with only two seconds remaining — and the Canadiens now know that they need to string together a few more little plays to get that one extra big one that can swing the series.
There’s some positive there, no doubt.
But only some.
“We don’t want to just be here to learn lessons,” said Christian Dvorak. “We want to give ourselves a chance to beat this team.”
If there were three guys who gave the Canadiens a chance, it was Dvorak, Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson, who have played a combined 2,113 games in this league — 128 of them in the playoffs.
It wasn’t a coincidence they combined for Montreal’s only goal on Wednesday.
“We know what it takes,” said Dvorak. “Keep it simple, get hard on the forecheck, get pucks back, and get in front of the net. That’s where goals are scored in the playoffs. That’s what it takes for our line.”
/* if ( "1" == true && 'undefined' !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) { var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}}; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( 'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371849493112&cmsid=384', so, permalink); } else { adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371849493112&cmsid=384"; } */ adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371849493112&cmsid=384"; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes("cust_params"); var queryString=''; if(adServerUrl_result){ var gettheDUFI = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem("theRED_loc");
if(gettheDUFI){ queryString += "dufiid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; queryString += "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; var ppid = "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; }
var DUFI_IP = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem("DUFI_IP");
if(DUFI_IP){ queryString += "dufiip=" + DUFI_IP + '&'; }
adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + 'cust_params=' + encodeURIComponent(queryString) ); }
$el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") );
$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-422607" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6371849493112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/6371849493112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/canadiens-dvorak-buries-it-in-tight-to-open-game-2-scoring/" }); });
That’s what it takes for every line, and it’s what the Capitals are getting from all of theirs.
They put the Canadiens in a blender and turned the blades up to high, particularly through the first 40 minutes, to take a 2-1 lead, a 27-12 shot advantage, and a 21-14 edge in hits.
“I think that’s just our identity coming through of what we do as a team,” said Spencer Carbery, who coached the Capitals to an Eastern Conference best 51-22-9 record. “We’re a four-line (team). We get on top of you. We’re not flashy, we’re not the fastest team, we’re not the most skilled team in the National Hockey League. But what we do is we apply pressure, and we get the puck down in your end, and we stay there.”
Against this young and, by comparison, shallow Canadiens team, it gives the Capitals an edge.
And that edge only sharpens when a couple of the more experienced players for Montreal prove incapable of doing what’s needed of them.
/* if ( "1" == true && 'undefined' !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) { var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}}; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( 'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371854067112&cmsid=384', so, permalink); } else { adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371854067112&cmsid=384"; } */ adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371854067112&cmsid=384"; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes("cust_params"); var queryString=''; if(adServerUrl_result){ var gettheDUFI = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem("theRED_loc");
if(gettheDUFI){ queryString += "dufiid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; queryString += "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; var ppid = "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; }
var DUFI_IP = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem("DUFI_IP");
if(DUFI_IP){ queryString += "dufiip=" + DUFI_IP + '&'; }
adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + 'cust_params=' + encodeURIComponent(queryString) ); }
$el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") );
$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-249218" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6371854067112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/6371854067112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/was-benching-laine-the-right-decision-for-canadiens-st-louis/" }); });
Joel Armia, who played hurt through the final few weeks of the regular season, was one of them, and he spent all but one shift on the bench in the third period as a result. Patrik Laine, who was healthier down the stretch than he had been all season, played no shifts in the frame.
“They’re decisions you make as a coach,” said Martin St. Louis. “I shortened my bench by a lot in the third. Honestly, I went with the nine or 10 (forwards) who I thought could help the cause.”
It almost worked, with Jake Evans, Dvorak, Anderson, Mike Matheson and Cole Caufield taking the most dangerous of the 14 shots that forced Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson to make the difference in the third.
Without Samuel Montembeault being every bit as good through two periods, the Canadiens wouldn’t have been within a sniff of tying the game.
But you add up Montembeault’s play with the lessons the players in front of him learned and the vulnerability of the Capitals through another third period in which they struggled to assert themselves with the lead, and you anchor hope to all of that if you’re the Canadiens.
Carbery, who said after Game 1 that the Canadiens would not “go quietly into the night,” also knows his team, which scored the third-most third-period goals (105) while allowing the least (66), can’t continue to fade as time winds down.
“I think it’s two parts,” Cabery said. “They’re pressing, and they’re a good team, so when they’re down a goal, they’re going to give you issues. There’s zero doubt about that. You’re not going to be able to hold them off and not let them into the offensive zone and not give them any scoring chances, so I’m completely understanding of that.
“But we are doing — I’m just going to throw this out here — maybe eight to 10 plays that I didn’t see in the first 40 minutes that we make and just big mistakes that you just can’t make those types of plays… That’s not us.”
/* if ( "1" == true && 'undefined' !== typeof window.getIndexAds ) { var so = {preroll:{1:{1:{siteID:191888},2:{siteID:191889}}}}; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds( 'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371851685112&cmsid=384', so, permalink); } else { adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371851685112&cmsid=384"; } */ adServerUrl = "http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szs=300x250&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=vast&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6371851685112&cmsid=384"; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes("cust_params"); var queryString=''; if(adServerUrl_result){ var gettheDUFI = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem("theRED_loc");
if(gettheDUFI){ queryString += "dufiid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; queryString += "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; var ppid = "ppid=" + gettheDUFI + '&'; }
var DUFI_IP = false; if (localStorage.getItem("consent") !== null && localStorage.getItem("consent-targeting") !== null) DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem("DUFI_IP");
if(DUFI_IP){ queryString += "dufiip=" + DUFI_IP + '&'; }
adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + 'cust_params=' + encodeURIComponent(queryString) ); }
$el.after( unescape("%3Cscript src=\"" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js\" %3E%3C/script%3E") );
$( document ).one( 'ready', function() { $( "#video_container-692902" ).SNPlayer( { bc_account_id: "1704050871", bc_player_id: "JCdte3tMv", //autoplay: true, //is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6371851685112, is_has_continuous_play: "false", adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: "", thumbnail: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/6371851685112-1024x576.jpg", direct_url: "https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/canadiens-evans-has-potential-game-tying-goal-robbed-by-the-post/" }); });
The Canadiens have had a much harder time being themselves, though.
For a second consecutive game, Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle were overwhelmed by the Capitals’ onslaught of pressure, and they uncharacteristically rushed plays instead of making them.
When those two and the other Canadiens defencemen were able to break from Washington’s pressure and get the puck moving towards Thompson, none of the forwards could do what Dvorak’s line did.
“We couldn’t connect on the next pass a bunch of times and for like six or seven minutes I felt we had to defend a lot because of it,” said St. Louis. “It’s not an easy thing to execute in this league. It’s not like you have a lot of space, but when you have some space, you expect your guys to be able to execute better. And when you do, you spend more time in the offensive zone.”
It wasn’t all bad.
“I felt we had a really good start,” said St. Louis. “I think the first four minutes were great for us, but after that, when we got in there, I felt we were one and done. I feel Washington is very good at getting in the O-zone and being very simple to start their O-zone. They go low-to-high a lot, and I feel we can do a better job of that and extend it a little more and create more chaos underneath that. But you have to get through that neutral zone. We’ve shown that we can do it, and when our execution is high, we’re a dangerous team.”
When that execution is lacking, the Canadiens are in danger. And none of them are immune. Not even Nick Suzuki, who had a dominant season and was arguably the best player not named Ovechkin in Game 1.
He finished Game 2 minus-two and with three times as many giveaways (three) as shots on net (zero).
You know Suzuki will bounce back in Game 3, and the Canadiens are going to have to take all the lessons learned in Washington and start applying them on home ice.
Because Dvorak is right; they’re not just in this to learn.
