Apr 30, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun (6) scores a goal on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) in the first period in game five of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/4c8dceb1-f209-4bfd-b43b-11cfb2b18e2f.jpeg] Apr 30, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun (6) scores a goal on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) in the first period in game five of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images This year's objective was for the young Montreal Canadiens to be in the mix and play meaningful hockey in March. That was more than accomplished; in fact, the Habs came one day short of playing meaningful hockey in May, and that’s quite an accomplishment, especially for a team that didn’t get any reinforcements at the trade deadline. Special Teams Key To Canadiens’ Survival [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/special-teams-key-to-canadiens-survival] Canadiens' Farm Team To Start Quest For Calder Cup [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-farm-team-to-start-quest-for-calder-cup] Canadiens: Gallagher’s Thank You Gift [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-gallaghers-thank-you-gift] Montreal was the last team to qualify for the playoffs. However, Martin St-Louis’ men still battled well against the Washington Capitals, especially considering Alexander Ovechkin and co. were the best squad in the Eastern Conference. CAPITALIZING ON OPPORTUNITIES The Habs started game five well; they peppered Logan Thompson with shots but could not find the back of the net. After nine minutes of play, Ovechkin scored on the power play to give the Caps a 1-0 lead, but at that point, shots were 8-2 for Montreal. In the remaining 11 minutes, the Canadiens only managed one more shot on goal, while Washington found a second lamp lighter to take a 2-0 lead and finish the frame with an 11-9 edge in shots. Dominating early is a momentum maker unless you capitalize on one of those many shots. Then, they have the opposite effect: They plant the seed of doubt, which eats at you. IT’S NOT OVER UNTIL IT’S OVER Down 3-0 early in the third, the Canadiens didn’t give up. Like they did all year, they worked tirelessly to mount a third-period comeback. Emil Heineman created a spark with his first playoff goal thanks to a nice tip off a puck Joel Armia had put towards the net, and it seemed to send shockwaves through the team’s collective body. When they finally manage to fix their consistency issue and provide that kind of effort for whole games, the Canadiens will be a force to be reckoned with, especially when more of their young guys graduate to the NHL. In the end, the Canadiens lost both game five and the series 4-1, but they’ve shown fantastic progress throughout the year, and we’ll have plenty to dissect over the coming months. It’s not over for the Laval Rocket, though. Pascal Vincent’s men won game one of their series against the Cleveland Monsters 3-2, and they’ll be fun to watch in the coming weeks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwo-DfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen], never to miss a story. Follow Karine on X @KarineHains [https://x.com/KarineHains] Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/karinehains.bsky.social] and Threads @karinehains [https://www.threads.net/@karinehains]. Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/] for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
