Habs Looking To Get Back To Winning Ways VS. Capitals
The Montreal Canadiens (32-17-9) are looking to bounce back from Thursday’s heartbreaking overtime loss as they host the Washington Capitals (31-23-7) tonight at 7:00 pm ET. After coming out of the Olympic break with a loss in a very winnable game where the Habs led for the majority of the game, they should be hungry to prove that they can get the job done, especially against the team that knocked them out of last year’s playoffs. As for the Capitals, they are coming off a 3-2 hard-fought win on Friday night against the Vegas Golden Knights and could come in a bit sluggish at the Bell Centre tonight, which could be what the Habs need to get a win against the Capitals.
The Habs projected lineup vs the Capitals tonight:
Caufield – Suzuki – Dach
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov
Newhook – Evans – Bolduc
Anderson – Danault – GallagherOut: Texier, Veleno, Laine
Matheson – Guhle
Hutson – Dobson
Struble – CarrierOut: Xhekaj
Dobes
Thoughts? 🤔
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) February 28, 2026
The Canadiens have lost 8 of their last 10 meetings against the Capitals, including both games so far this season. With that being said, the Habs will also be looking to avoid getting swept by the Capitals in the season series tonight. One thing that will help the Habs is to devise a game plan to stop speedster Ethan Frank, who has scored 4 goals and 6 points in 2 games against the Habs this season. While Alex Ovechkin has also always been a thorn in the Habs’ side, Frank has absolutely dominated the Habs every time he plays against them, and if the Canadiens want to win, they need to stop him.
Bolduc, Struble et Dobes affronteront les Caps samedi. Texier et Xhekaj seront laissés de côté
Bolduc, Struble and Dobes will face the Caps on Saturday. Texier and Xhekaj are healthy scratches#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/RkYbmAqsk4
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 28, 2026
The Canadiens have announced that goaltender Jakub Dobes will be getting the start for tonight’s game after Samuel Montembeault started on Thursday. Dobes has consistently been helping the Habs rack up points in the standings as he has an 8-0-2 record in his last 10 starts, alongside a 2.65 GAA and .899 save percentage. His individual numbers may not look incredible with a sub. 900 save percentage over his last 10 matchups, but Dobes seems to always do enough to give his team a good chance to win.
On the flip side, Dobes did have one of his toughest games of the year against the Capitals earlier this season, where he gave up 4 goals on 25 shots after coming in relief for a struggling Samuel Montembeault during the 2nd period of the Habs’ 8-4 loss in which Dobes was credited with the defeat. Dobes has also struggled when there has been a lot of time off between starts, so there is a decent chance he will have some rust to shake off tonight. Will he be able to extend his 10-game streak of being undefeated in regulation to 11 games, or will Dobes struggle to get going against the Capitals?
As well as Dobes coming in to start tonight, the Habs have decided to scratch Alexandre Texier in favour of Zack Bolduc at forward, and Jayden Struble will be coming in for Arber Xhekaj. Given the history with the Capitals and Tom Wilson, you’d think the Habs would want the toughness of Xhekaj in their lineup tonight; however, it seems St. Louis wants to give everyone an equal opportunity to come into the lineup. In all honesty, playing Struble against the Islanders may have been the move to avoid this from happening, but anyways, we’ll see how Struble performs with Alexandre Carrier tonight.
Revenge Game Alert 🔥: Charlie Lindgren (Washington Capitals) faces his former team the Montreal Canadiens. He is ranked 233 per @RotowireNHL. pic.twitter.com/CypXq47Iuw
— Revenge Game Bets (@RevengeGameBets) February 28, 2026
In nets for the Capitals, it will likely be former Habs netminder Charlie Lindgren that gets the start after Logan Thompson played on Friday vs. the Golden Knights. Lindgren has a career 4-1 record with an .889 save percentage and a 2.83 GAA when playing against the Habs. Given his success against the Canadiens, it won’t be an easy night, as he also seems to do just enough to beat them when he plays his former team. Nonetheless, a battle between Lindgren and Dobes from the start should be a very good one.
Considering that both goaltenders don’t have the greatest stats but are still proving to be very successful at getting wins for their respective teams, the Over 6.5 Goals seems like a very solid bet on the game’s total. As for the moneyline, considering the Capitals had to travel overnight to get to Montreal for tonight’s game, the Habs are seen as big -160 favourites.
Cole Caufield scoring off a Juraj Slafkovsky broken stick shot is the most Habs goal ever
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) February 27, 2026
On Thursday night, Cole Caufield proved that he still has the hot stick with a big goal against the Islanders. He now has 11 goals over his 10 matchups as he is on the hunt to reach 40 goals for the first time in his career. The Habs sniper is listed at +135 to score tonight. Combine a Caufield goal with a Habs win and over 6.5 goals to boost your odds to +375 with a same-game parlay.
What are your predictions for tonight’s Capitals vs. Canadiens showdown?
