The Washington Capitals have claimed a series win for the first time since lifting Lord Stanley’s Cup to the rafters following the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. Spencer Carbery’s crew did not have an easy battle with the Montreal Canadiens through five tightly contested games. For future historians who look at the box score alone, it will look like Washington ran away with multi-goal wins in Games 4 and 5, but those who lived the series know that certainly was not the case.
The best team in the Eastern Conference avoided the Round 1 pitfall against the upstart Canadiens to set up a battle between the top two teams in the Metropolitan Division, the Capitals and the Carolina Hurricanes. As the Capitals turn the page on the Canadiens, let’s look at a few takeaways from the heavily-contested Round 1 series against Montreal.
Carbery Highlights Retiring David Savard and the Canadiens
It was pretty telling that the Capitals head coach’s first words to the media didn’t involve his own team but highlighted the career of a Canadiens defenseman who announced he was retiring at the end of the season. “I want to congratulate David Savard on his career,” Spencer Carbery opened his presser. “This guy’s been a warrior in this league for a long, long time. It’s an impressive career… It was an honor to compete against David Savard, man. That guy ate so many shots… flank one-timers from Ovi, I don’t even know how many. Pretty impressive.”
Head coach Spencer Carbery’s full postgame media availability following his first #StanleyCup Playoffs series win behind Washington’s bench.#CapsHabs pic.twitter.com/8xiScAamBG
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) May 1, 2025
Carbery then praised the Canadiens’ effort in the five-game series loss and noted how it seemed familiar to Washington’s bench boss. “It’s a lot like we went through last year,” Carbery said. “It’s just been impressive to watch what they’ve done from afar.”
While it’s easier to say from a winning perspective, Carbery admitted it was a fight against the Canadiens in Round 1. “To me, that wasn’t a 4-1 series,” Carbery stated. “We found ways to win some of those games. They pushed us in every single one of those games.”
Dylan Strome Dominated the Canadiens in Round 1
Dylan Strome quietly inscribed his name as one of the best centers in hockey with 82 points in 82 games this season. He has steadily improved since arriving from Chicago as a 50-point player before the 2022-23 season. His first two seasons in Washington saw his point total jump to the 65-point plateau. This season, it’s been an entirely different level for Strome, who averaged a brain-pleasing 1.00 points-per-game-played (P/G) during the 2024-25 regular season.
Related: 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 Hub
Those numbers have improved during Washington’s Round 1 matchup against Montreal. The Capitals’ top-line center feasted on a young Canadiens team. He scored twice and amassed seven assists over five games, an average of 1.80 P/G for the series. That number is tied for fourth during the 2025 Playoffs, three players from the high-scoring Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings matchup.
A Balanced Scoring Attack Won the Series for the Capitals
While Strome was the clubhouse leader in points in the series, the Canadiens had difficulty slowing down several Capitals scorers in Round 1, as five different Capitals recorded at least five points. Alex Ovechkin led the Capitals in scoring with four goals and five points in the series, while Connor McMichael, Tom Wilson, and Anthony Beauvillier recorded five points against Montreal.
Wilson’s performance earns a shoutout for an all-around performance against the Canadiens. The 31-year-old winger scored twice and assisted on three Capitals goals for a 1.00 P/G against Montreal. Wilson was tied with Ovechkin for second-best on the Capitals with 19 hits during the season.
Bottom-six winger Brandon Duhaime was a menace against Montreal. He led the Capitals with 20 hits during the series and scored three goals on eight shots against the Canadiens, a 38% success rate. Of course, an empty-net goal to seal Game 5 didn’t hurt that number. For context, Duhaime tied a career-high nine goals during the 2024-25 regular season, his first with the Capitals. His offensive success was a massive bonus for Carbery’s club in the series.
Washington’s Defensive Clinic Against Montreal
On the opposite end of the ice, the Capitals put on a defensive clinic to slow down the Canadiens during Round 1. Only one player, rookie Lane Hutson, recorded five points in the series. Cole Caufield totaled four points against the Capitals, but that was it for Montreal. No other Canadiens player recorded more than two points in the five-game series loss.
There are some ugly-looking plus/minus totals for Montreal’s best players against the Capitals, which showcase Washington’s top players deciding the series. Brandon Gallagher recorded two points and was a minus-7, and it doesn’t get much better from there. Caufield (minus-6), Hutson (minus-5), Nick Suzuki (minus-5), Ivan Demidov (minus-5), and Juraj Slafkovsky (minus-4) returned to the bench following a Washington goal way too many times in Round 1. It will be an incredibly valuable learning experience for all of those Canadiens skaters.
Montreal scored 12 goals in the five-game series, but that number is inflated due to the 6-3 win in Game 3. In reality, the Capitals’ defense limited the Canadiens to less than two goals per game for the majority of the series. The upcoming task in Round 2 will be slowing down a Hurricanes team that averaged nearly four goals a game against the New Jersey Devils in their Round 1 matchup.
