Martin St. Louis wanted a victory.
It didn’t occur Monday night, but the best way his young group rallied after a difficult start gave the Montreal bench boss reason to think a win may not be far-off.
The underdog Canadiens showed they’re ready for a fight despite losing Game 1 of their first-round playoff series with the Washington Capitals 3-2 in additional time.
“We were probably going to need to weather the storm and really feel what that looks like — the pressure, the physicality, the pace of the sport,” St. Louis said after a lot of his players tasted playoff motion for the primary time.
“There was plenty of great things. Unfortunately you don’t win, but we got some really great things from this game.”
Montreal — the youngest team within the post-season and last to clinch a spot — got here back from a 2-0 deficit to force additional time.
The valiant effort fell just short against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals.
Ovechkin scored twice, including the primary playoff additional time winner of his profession for the top-seeded Capitals at Capital One Arena.
The Great Eight also led the charge with a team-leading seven hits a number of weeks after breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record.
“He’s been doing that his whole profession,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “Physically he was attempting to throw the body around and lead that way, too.”
Ovechkin and Anthony Beauvillier — the opposite goal scorer — set the tone early with two bone-crunching checks 20 seconds into the night. The physical intimidation didn’t stop there.
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Washington totalled 20 hits in the primary period — including seven within the opening 4 minutes — and mixed it up after each whistle, overwhelming the inexperienced Canadiens.
“They’re amped up, fans are screaming after every hit. Gives them energy,” Suzuki said. “We didn’t really bring our A game early. The pressure was type of attending to us.”
Three defencemen, three forwards and goaltender Sam Montembeault made their playoff debuts for a Montreal squad that spent the last three years rebuilding and surprised many by reaching the post-season.
“Never know what to anticipate,” rookie Lane Hutson said. “It was physical.”
“They got here out flying,” added fellow blueliner Kaiden Guhle. “They were hitting all the pieces, feeding off the energy of the constructing there. They’ve obviously been within the situation before, plenty of them.”
Tom Wilson laid out Guhle. Andrew Mangiapane sucker-punched Hutson and got here out of it with a Washington power play — resulting in the opening goal. Ovechkin later ran over Cole Caufield like a truck.
A difficult start for Montreal had veteran-savvy Washington looking like it would bulldoze its strategy to victory.
Then an influence play midway through the third period sparked a comeback, something the Canadiens have made a habit of pulling off this season.
Caufield scored at 10:32 before Suzuki waited out a sliding Logan Thompson amid a scramble to equalize with 4:15 remaining in regulation.
Ovechkin found space alone within the crease and buried the winner past Montembeault 2:26 into the additional period, however the Canadiens imagine they’ve proven it’s a series they’ll win.
“We’re a great team,” Suzuki said. “Game is absolutely tight each ways, trading probabilities and defending hard. So I expect so much more of that within the series.”
The Canadiens returned to the playoffs for the primary time since reaching the Stanley Cup final within the pandemic-shortened 2021 season.
Montreal entered with 91 points and a minus-20 goal differential, the worst of any team within the playoffs. The Canadiens, nevertheless, went on a 15-5-6 run after the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament break, rating sixth within the NHL during that stretch.
Washington topped the Eastern Conference with 111 points, but slowed down later within the season with losses in eight of its last 12 regular-season games.
Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday in Washington before the series shifts to Montreal.
“It’s a terrific experience for the blokes that haven’t experienced this before,” Suzuki said. “We’ll be in higher shape coming into Game 2.”
NOT SATISFIED
The Canadiens exceeded expectations just by reaching the playoffs, but St. Louis said his players wouldn’t put their feet up now that they’re in.
“You clinch a spot within the playoffs, it’s not such as you arrive here in search of a participation ribbon,” he said Monday morning.
“We’ve beat some really good teams this yr.”
ON THE MEND
The Capitals might be adding one other physical presence soon. Breakout forward Aliaksei Protas, out with a foot injury, skated alone for quarter-hour Monday before Washington’s morning skate.
Although Portas didn’t suit up in Game 1, head coach Spencer Carbery seems confident the six-foot-six, 247-pound winger will take part in the series.
“I’d expect him to play, and we’ll just see when that’s,” said Carbery on Monday morning. “Is likely to be Game 2. We’ll see.”
The 24-year-old Protas had 30 goals and 36 assists in 75 games this season, shattering his previous profession highs of six goals and 29 points.
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