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
| Cole Caufield | Nick Suzuki | Juraj Slafkovsky |
| Ivan Demidov | Jake Evans | Alex Newhook |
| Josh Anderson | Christian Dvorak | Brendan Gallagher |
| Emil Heineman | Oliver Kapanen | Joel Armia |
| Mike Matheson | Alexandre Carrier** |
| Kiaden Guhle | Lane Hutson |
| Arber Xhekaj | David Savard |
| Jakub Dobes |
| Cayden Primeau |
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.
The sheriff should displace Savard. But because this years success is all about the process more than the final result, perhaps Marty wants Savard to go out with the dignity of playing since he already announced his retirement
Xhekaj continues to make the same mistakes repeatedly and is a liability risk when he feels that he has to control the physicality of the game. He chases big hits either by stepping up with too large a gap or leaving his position to chase a guy across the ice. In both cases it’s poor decisions. If he stays patient and lets the play come to him, then he can exert his physicality. However, he can be beat wide by very fast guys and it causes him to give up the blue line too soon, poor gap management. That’s the primary downside and why he’s watching and not playing. The upside outweighs it.
I, as coach, have him stand at Center ice in warm up and chirp at Wilson and Ovechkin. Caufield and Hutson are off limits. There will be consequences. I know you’re not afraid so there will be no excuses. You’ll either look like a coward or you’ll drop the gloves. You understand Ovie? Tom? And then skate away. Marty needs to explicitly define the expectation for Arber. And Marty taps him when he wants him to send THE message. If intimidation is the primary reason you want him in the lineup, then use him as that weapon, Caps don’t have an equal answer. Any offsetting penalty is a win for us and if he makes any of them hesitate a little, that’s a win. These are the playoffs and Caps are going to play physical, Xhekaj won’t change that. But he can alter the dynamics. Fighting is no longer a sideshow, it’s retribution, personal or intimidation.
After the Leonard hit on Demidov, nobody defended the kid and he vanished the rest of the game. Intimidation is real.Laine is a big man, in the playoffs you need to expand your “territory”. He’s a veteran protecting a protege rookie, that is how you team build and get the guy beside you to also go beyond, but it didn’t happen. Newhook likewise. Even if you get beat up, you win. Character. It means Anderson and Strubble and Guhle will need to be alert as if it escalates they will be brought into it first. Gallagher and Slafkovsky too, the whole team really. Want to shed a “soft” reputation? There is a solution. Ray Ferraro was yapping about how small the Habs are up front and how they can’t get to middle ice. He’s wrong. Caufield is small, that’s it for that list. Change the perception, it changes reality.
We lost in overtime. We had a marvellous comeback. Lots of positives, we weren’t outclassed. I think Marty will play the intimidation card back in our barn if we lose tonight and it’s a really tough game like the battle of Ontario was last night. If we win tonight, he will stay the course and exposure to playoff hockey will pay dividends down the road. Go Habs Go!!
Xhekaj makes far less mistakes than Matheson, Struble & Savard. I cannot believe i keep reading comments on all sites from people talking about Xhekaj’s mistakes. Is everyone blind? Are you all retarded? Ffs. Xhekaj is our 4th best Dman. Marty has had a problem with him from day 1. This is a Marty issue, nothing Xhekaj can do to fix it. It’ll take management or ownership to tell MSL enough watching our small team get smoked. Maybe when Hutson gets injured they’ll wake up.
When Dowd, Eller and Leonard are playing like tough guys – a team needs to stop that. #72 plays well, needs to not try and “fix” everything. Just play and let you team play an inch taller.