Nov. 20 vs. Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN/Caps Radio Network
Washington Capitals (10-8-2)
Montreal Canadiens (10-6-3)
In the midst of a stretch of seven home games in a span of eight, the Caps are on the move, north of the border for the one game in that bunch that won’t be played in the District. They’re taking a quick trip to Quebec for a Thursday night date with the Montreal Canadiens.
Thursday’s game with the Habs finishes the Capitals’ fifth set of back-to-back games this season, and it marks the first meeting between the two teams since Washington ousted Montreal from the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring.
The Caps come to Montreal on a high note; they defeated the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night in Washington by a 7-4 count. Combined with a tidy 2-1 triumph over Los Angeles two nights earlier, the Caps carry a modest two-game winning streak with them as they cross the border, their first set of consecutive wins in nearly four weeks.
As different as the wins over Los Angeles and Edmonton were, they shared one positive characteristic; Washington never trailed in either game. Both games also featured shuffling of the forward lines, though that wasn’t intentional for the Edmonton game. Washington was forced to adjust its lineup for Wednesday’s game when Nic Dowd was injured late in the Caps’ morning skate ahead of the game, leaving them lacking two of their top three centers; P-L Dubois underwent abdominal surgery earlier in the month.
One of seven Caps who played all 82 regular season games in 2024-25, Dowd did not travel to Montreal and will not play against the Canadiens Thursday. Among the seven Capitals that played all 82 games last season only two now have that opportunity this season, Brandon Duhaime and Connor McMichael.
Caps coach Spencer Carbery and his staff had gradually – over the course of the team’s previous three games – come up with what looked like some winning line combinations, and they were eager to see how those trios would look against the Oilers, who feature superstar scoring threats Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
“Not the ideal scenario that you wanted to be put in going into playing a game against a team like Edmonton,” says Carbery. “But once we figured out that Dowder wasn’t going to be able to play, we met and went through a bunch of different scenarios of what made the most sense, given the game plan and the matchups, who fit where, chemistry. We took everything into account and just came to the decision. A large part of it is because of the opponent, but putting [McMichael] back in the middle just to kind of give us another stabilized line that could be deployed against [McDavid] or [Draisaitl] if need be.”
McMichael started the season playing center, but he was moved to the wing earlier in the homestand, and to good effect. Skating the left side of a line with Dylan Strome and Alex Ovechkin, McMIchael had a hand in three of the four goals Washington managed to score in the first two games of the homestand, chipping in with a goal and an assist.
“I think a positive with this group is how many guys we have that are able to move up and down the lineup and play different roles,” said McMichael before Wednesday’s game. “And that’s been showing here lately. And for me personally, playing with Stromer and [Ovechkin] now, it’s been a lot of fun, obviously, playing with two elite players in this league
“For me, it’s just trying to fit in and find those little holes where I can help and just trying to get pucks back for them and getting into their hands.”
McMichael was moved to the middle of a line with Duhaime and Ryan Leonard for Wednesday’s game, and he did exactly what he stated above – get pucks back and get them into their hands – but Leonard was the benefactor in what was a coming out party for him, and his first two-goal game in the League.
“The last few games have been his best games of the season thus far,” says Carbery of the 20-year-old Leonard. “You can see he is just getting way more comfortable, way more confident. The little nuances of the game at this level, and the expectations, the little plays, the little details of the game are just now becoming second nature to him, so he doesn’t have to think about them anymore.
“So now, he knows he can just go out there and play. He knows he is in the right spot, he is making all the plays he needs to make, given the time, score, situational awareness. And then you can really see his tools and his elite talent come to fruition, like [Wednesday].”
Both of Leonard’s goals were dazzlers. On the first, he found middle ice and patiently lined up and threaded a perfectly timed and delivered shot through the five-hole of Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner. On the second, he used his instincts and speed to get himself in a 1-on-1 situation with Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard, then used his lower body strength to protect the puck while cutting to the middle. He then went to his backhand to beat Skinner for a second time, notching his fifth goal of the season.
McMichael picked up the primary helpers on both Leonard goals and finished the night with three assists, extending his point streak to three games in a row (one goal, five assists).
Montreal has been bitten by the injury bug this season, but it still managed to roar its way to 9-3-0 start in its first dozen games. The Habs have hit hard times since, and when Washington visits on Thursday, the Canadiens will be seeking to shake a four-game slide (0-3-1). The first three of those losses – including a 7-0 home ice loss to Dallas a week ago – came at home, and most recently, the Habs dropped a 4-3 shootout decision to the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Monday.
With that Monday loss, the Habs have one win in their last seven games (1-3-3). The Canadiens are currently playing without top four defenseman Kaiden Guhle and forwards Patrik Laine, Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook.
