Game preview and how to watch
Game 47: Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Capitals region: MNMT
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
The Canadiens had the misfortune of playing the Washington Capitals right at the start of a hot streak when they met for the first time back on November 20. An 8-4 win for the Capitals was part of a 9-1 stretch from November 17 to December 3. It was also the fifth consecutive loss by Montreal to cap their only skid of more than two straight defeats this season.
The poles have since shifted in this battle, with Montreal now the team on good form and the Capitals struggling. Since the beginning of December, the Canadiens have gone 13-6-3 for the league’s seventh-highest points percentage; Washington has gone 8-8-4, and won two of the six games they’ve played in 2026.
Montreal has been able to hold steady in what has become a relentless Atlantic Division in which it seems like every team is winning each night, while the Capitals can’t keep pace in the Metropolitan Division that has seen its quality drop since the beginning of the season. Washington had a three-point cushion atop the division on December 7, but over the course of five weeks has been forced out of a playoff spot entirely.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Capitals |
|---|---|---|
| 26-14-6 | Record | 23-17-6 |
| 49.5% (19th) | Expected-goal share | 51.6% (11th) |
| 3.37 (6th) | Goals per game | 3.26 (9th) |
| 3.20 (23rd) | Goals against per game | 2.78 (7th) |
| 23.1% (7th) | PP% | 15.9% (28th) |
| 79.1% (20th) | PK% | 76.7% (27th) |
| 0-1-0 | Head-to-Head Record | 1-0-0 |
| Cole Caufield (21) | Most goals | Tom Wilson (22) |
| Lane Hutson (37) | Most assists | John Carlson (26) |
| Nick Suzuki (50) | Most points | Tom Wilson (42) |
The Canadiens did well to see off some struggling teams on their recent homestand. It took a bit more effort than it probably should have last night, but all of the Calgary Flames (13th in the Western Conference), Florida Panthers (12th in the East), and Vancouver Canucks (last in the NHL) were dispatched in multi-goal wins. Montreal would love nothing more than to claim a victory by such a margin in Washington to make up for the previous loss, but from the second game of a back-to-back and fifth in seven days, they’ll be happy to take two points however they can be claimed.
It all starts in net, where Samuel Montembeault has been tasked with this game. He is the one who got the start versus Washington in that first meeting of the season, getting pulled early in the second period after a couple of quick goals against. Since returning from his AHL conditioning stint, he’s gone 3-0, stopping 77 of the 84 shots he’s faced for a .917 save percentage. The game could have a personal element to it as he will likely be going up against Logan Thompson, one of the goalies who replaced him on Team Canada’s roster after Montembeault’s rough start cost him his place. It’s hard to argue that that was the wrong choice, but Montembeault will still want to prove (to himself as much as anyone) that he still has a place among the game’s top goaltenders.
It appears that Montembeault won’t be facing Tom Wilson in this game as the forward has been placed on Injured Reserve with a suspected foot injury. The Capitals will hope that their hottest hand is able to go to make up for that absence, and at the moment that top producer is Justin Sourdif, who recently had a hat trick and two assists versus the Anaheim Ducks, and a total of six goals and four assists since New Year’s Eve. Washington acquired him at the draft from the Panthers (who had no idea what type of injury luck their forward corps was in for months later), and signed him to two-year contract that seems to be paying off. Sourdif left the last game early with an upper-body injury, so his availability for this game is in question.
Even with Alexander Ovechkin, who just hit the 20-goal mark this season, in the lineup, Montreal has the better forward quality available for this game. Both Nick Suzuki’s trio and Juraj Slafkovský’s are producing like top lines, trading goals last night versus Vancouver. The biggest question is how they can generate their offence versus a structured team like Spencer Carbery’s Capitals. That’s something Martin St-Louis has yet to figure out in his time behind the bench, and we saw how frustrated the players got when the Detroit Red Wings shut off the passing lanes on Saturday.
If they can get the same type of puck-moving from the defence corps as they received last night (and some of the offence that they produced as well) that would help them to attack with all five skaters rather than leaving the forwards trying to force their way through. Most teams have been figuring out how to do that in recent weeks when playing the Capitals, and the Habs will need to as well.
