Canadiens Pre Game
Canadiens Playoff Preview And Lines: No Xhekaj For Game 2
The Montreal Canadiens (0-1) are set to face the Washington Capitals (1-0) on Wednesday night, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET.
Game 1 of the series necessitated overtime thanks to a late-game push by the Canadiens’ first line. All things considered, Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Cole Caufield had a dominant outing, which is very important since they were facing one of the best shutdown lines in the league. With that in mind, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Tom Wilson, and Connor McMichael will once again face Suzuki and Co., especially since the Capitals have the last change as the home team.
The 3-2 overtime loss on Monday night did reveal one clear weakness. Or rather, it reminded Canadiens fans the team is not quite done with the rebuild, as forward depth continues to be a problem. If the Habs want to split the games in Washington, they’ll need some semblance of secondary scoring from the other three forward combinations.
As for the physical play, the Capitals set the tone early, which led to many fans requesting the return of hard-nosed defenceman Arber Xhekaj to the lineup. From an analysis standpoint, Xhekaj could be useful to the Habs because he formed a great third pairing alongside Jayden Struble in the regular season, but there’s no denying he also brings an important physical element to the table.
MUST READ: Montreal Canadiens Roster Talk: The Arber Xhekaj Debate
That being said, Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis is not going to make any lineup changes heading into Game 2, therefore Xhekaj will once again watch the game from the press box.
There will be some criticism regarding his decision, however, it’s only fair to say the Habs have several positives aspects to build upon from the first game of the series. Considering the Habs are facing the top team in the Eastern Conference, the results from Game One were fairly encouraging.
MUST READ: Montreal Canadiens Playoff Positives To Build On Vs. Washington
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Cole Caufield | Nick Suzuki | Juraj Slafkovsky |
| Alex Newhook | Oliver Kapanen | Ivan Demidov |
| Zachary Bolduc | Owen Beck | Owen Beck |
| Josh Anderson | Jake Evans | Brendan Gallagher |
| Mike Matheson | Noah Dobson |
| Jayden Struble | Lane Hutson |
| Arber Xhekaj | Alex Carrier |
| Samuel Montembeault |
| Jakub Dobes |
Washington Capitals Projected Lineup
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Anthony Beauvillier
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Andrew Magiapane – Lars Eller – Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Taylor Raddysh
Jakub Chychrun – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Matt Roy
Alexander Alexeyev – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
How to Watch the Montreal Canadiens vs. the Washington Capitals, Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Game 2 of the Capitals – Canadiens series will be aired on TVA Sports and Sportsnet. Once the game is over, an instant recap complete with highlights will be available on Montreal Hockey Now.
Montreal Canadiens playoff odds via Money Puck.
