Canadiens HC Sulks, Provides Damning Indictment as Montreal Gets Smacked By Alex Ovechkin’s Capitals
The Montreal Canadiens pounced on the 2025-26 NHL season with remarkable agility, showing all signs of a successful rebuild. For a considerable period of time, the Habs ruled over the Atlantic Division. However, as we approach the end of November, things have taken a turn for the worse.
The Habs have slipped to the sixth position with 23 points, struggling under the weight of an embarrassing losing streak that has stretched to five games after their inferior performance against the Washington Capitals on Thursday.
Montreal Canadiens Makes Alarming Confession After Brutal Loss on Home Ice
The Canadiens failed to save face at the Bell Centre on Thursday as Alex Ovechkin and co., handed the team an utterly disgraceful 8-4 loss. Sam Montembeault, whose performance has been increasingly challenging to defend, couldn’t do much to strengthen the Habs’ case, allowing three goals on ten shots. Montembeault was eventually pulled to be replaced by Jakub Dobes, who made 21 saves.
Not long ago, the Capitals were at the bottom of the standings, but the victory over the Habs marks their third consecutive success, signaling a major hunger for redemption. Captain Ovechkin, who recently shattered Gordie Howe’s record for the most regular-season goals in a single venue, had three goals against the Canadiens, marking his 33rd NHL hat trick.
All the bite and edge that the Habs had exhibited early on in the season have disappeared. The team’s head coach, Martin St. Louis, was dejected after the game; the coach admitted that every loss the Habs face only undermines all the progress the team has made thus far. “It feels like we went back 14 months in the past,” Marco D’Amico quoted St. Louis on his X account.
“It feels like we went back 14 months in the past.”
Martin St-Louis, when asked what led to the Canadiens loss tonight.
— Marco D’Amico (@mndamico) November 21, 2025
Indeed, the Canadiens’ performance seemed to fade in front of the Capitals’ might. Ovi had four points, three goals, and one assist: a truly remarkable achievement for his age. All the discourse that emerged after he surpassed Wayne Gretzky in April 2025, which alleged there was nothing else to come out of the Capitals captain, is being disproved by his actions on ice.
After the showdown against the Habs, Ovi has added another accomplishment to his already never-ending list. According to Sportsnet Stats, at 40 years and 64 days, Ovechkin is the oldest player in history to score a hat trick against the Canadiens, in both the regular season and the playoffs. The Boston Bruins’ Jean Ratelle previously held the title at Game 4 of the 1979 Stanley Cup Semis.
Will the Canadiens be able to bounce back and find a way to overcome this impasse? The team has also had horrible luck with injuries this season, coupled with the pertinent goalie issue. It remains to be seen whether the Habs brass can devise a strategy to compensate for their weaknesses and regain their footing.
