The Washington Capitals advanced to the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday, eliminating the Montreal Canadiens with a 4-1 victory in Game 5 of their best-of-7 series at Capital One Arena.
It's the first time Washington won a playoff series since capturing the only Stanley Cup championship in franchise history back in 2018. Since then, the Capitals lost to five different opponents in the first round, including a sweep at the hands of the New York Rangers last spring, and failed to even qualify for the playoffs in 2023.
This edition of the Capitals, though, seems built for the postseason. They play a structured defensive game, are opportunistic offensively and get production from up and down the lineup, and not just from superstar Alex Ovechkin .
And they received reliable goaltending from Logan Thompson all season, including in the first round, when they skated past the Canadiens four games to one.
Thompson was a major difference maker again Wednesday. He stopped 28 of 29 shots, and allowed Montreal to score only after Washington held a 3-0 lead in the third period.
Ovechkin got the party started in The District with his fourth goal of the series, a power-play snipe after Dylan Strome won a face-off in the offensive zone at 9:12 of the first period. Jakob Chychrun made it 2-0 two minutes later with his second of the series.
The Capitals struck on the power play again when Tom Wilson scored his second of the series at 16:59 of the second period. Emil Heineman 's first career postseason tally early in the third period got the Canadiens on the board, and they pressed for more after that. But Thompson made 13 saves in the third period and Brandon Duhaime 's empty-netter iced the game and the series for Washington with 26 seconds left.
After dusting off the upstart Canadiens, the Capitals step up in weight class when they face off against their Metropolitan Division rival, the Carolina Hurricanes , in the second round.
Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
After allowing the Canadiens to pull within two goals early in the third period, Thompson shut the door. He was calm, cool and collected when the Candiens pushed for more, desperate to keep their season alive. Thompson just made one save after another, including a glove-save beauty that left Nick Suzuki staring at the roof in disbelief late in regulation.
Thompson allowed two goals or fewer in each of Washington's four wins, and 11 goals total in the series. He surrendered five in Washington's only loss, in Game 3 at Bell Centre. Not only did he bounce back from that performance, but he shook off a late collision that knocked him out of the rest of the game. Thompson said he had his "bell rung," but was none the worse for wear, backstopping a road win in Game 4 and the series clincher at home in Game 5.
Despite an outstanding 31-6-6 record this season, his first with the Capitals, and a Stanley Cup ring earned with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023, Thompson was something of a question mark coming into these playoffs, especially when he missed the final eight regular-season games due to injury. Remember, Adin Hill was in goal when Vegas won the Cup, not Thompson. But he more than proved himself as a capable playoff difference maker in Round 1 against the Capitals.
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It wasn't all about Ovechkin in Game 5 or throughout the series. But the Capitals captain sure played a big part in their success.
He scored their first goal Wednesday and finished the series with four goals, including the OT winner in Game 1 , and five points. He had 19 shots on goal and was credited with 19 hits. Simply, Ovechkin was a force. The Capitals machine ran pretty smoothly with a long list of contributors. But Ovechkin was the pilot; and as long a she keeps rolling, there's a good chance the Capitals will follow.
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David Savard's 14-year NHL career ended Wednesday when the Canadiens were eliminated. The 34-year-old defenseman announced he'd retire at the end of this playoff run, which obviously came sooner than he would've liked.
Never a star, Savard was a solid, rugged stay-at-home defenseman for three teams, and helped the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup in 2021. Though his role was that of a third-pair d-man playing 10 minutes or so a night in this series, Savard was well respected inside his own locker room, and on the other side of the ice. All you had to see after the final buzzer Wednesday was how his teammates and the Capitals reacted to him. Respect.
