Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals Pick & Prediction OCTOBER 31st 2024
Preview and Prediction
The Washington Capitals have been on a winning streak, securing six victories in their last seven games.
Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens have been struggling, experiencing a crushing defeat in their most recent game.
On Thursday, the Capitals will aim to continue their winning ways as they host the Canadiens, who suffered an 8-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, marking their fifth loss in their last seven games (2-4-1).
Washington has been dominant on their home ice, winning their last four games in the nation's capital, including a 5-3 triumph over the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
Star captain Alex Ovechkin was the standout player in that game, scoring two goals in just under two minutes and bringing his total for the season to double digits. He now has 857 career goals, just 38 shy of surpassing the legendary Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history.
"I thought he was fantastic tonight," said Washington coach Spencer Carbery of Ovechkin's performance. "I thought he was skating. I thought he had the puck. I thought he made good decisions with it. He should be real confident after his performance tonight."
Ovechkin has been a consistent threat against the Canadiens, recording at least one point in all three games against them last season, although Montreal managed to come away with two wins in the series.
His linemates also had a strong showing on Tuesday, with Aliaksei Protas scoring a goal and setting up two others, while Dylan Strome contributed with two assists for the Capitals.
"Yeah, first couple games we just play out there and try to find the right thing and right now it's kind of clicking," Ovechkin said of his line. "You can see (Strome) playing unbelievable, win the faceoff, feeling the puck and when you have two guys when they feel the puck, it's very important for you to just try to get open and find the shot."
In addition to their strong offensive performance, the Capitals have also been successful in limiting their opponents' shots. They held the Rangers to just 19 shots on Tuesday, marking the second time this season they have held a team under 20 shots.
On the other hand, the Canadiens had a disastrous outing in their last game, allowing four goals in the first 10:33 of the game and ultimately losing in a blowout. The team was met with boos from their home crowd at the Bell Centre.
"It's so frustrating right now, to answer all these questions," said defenseman Mike Matheson, expressing his frustration with the team's performance, as reported by the Montreal Gazette. "I don't want to let my emotions say something tomorrow I'll regret."
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki also expressed his disappointment, as his seven-game point streak came to an end in the loss.
"You're down 4-0 10 minutes in after we played two good games," Suzuki said, per the Montreal Gazette. "I'm just trying to move on right now. We were slow right from the start. We weren't forechecking very well."
The only bright spot for Montreal was Cole Caufield, who scored in his third consecutive game and for the ninth time in 10 games this season. He was assisted by former top overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, who returned to the lineup after missing three games due to an upper-body injury.
Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
Alex Ovechkin scored his 699th career goal for Washington but that was not enough as Ben Chiarot finished with two goals, the second coming 58 seconds into overtime as the Montreal Canadiens rallied for a 4-3 victory over the host Capitals Monday night.
Ovechkin is trying to become the eighth player in NHL history to reach 700 goals. He had been in a mini-slump lately, not scoring a point or a goal in his last five games, and had a few chances to reach his milestone but came up short.
Chiarot gave the Canadiens a one-goal lead early in the third period and then got the game-winner in overtime as Montreal snapped a five-game losing streak.
Ovechkin's 699th career goal gave Washington a 1-0 lead 7:29 into the game after Montreal missed on a few early breakaways against goalie Capitals Braden Holtby.
Nicklas Backstrom won a draw in the left circle that came back to Ovechkin. He was in the back part of the circle and sent a shot inside the far post past goalie Carey Price for the early lead.
Montreal tied it when Shea Weber fired a blast from the right point that snaked its way through a bunch of bodies in front and by Holtby. That came with 2:17 remaining in the period and made it 1-1.
Lars Eller then gave Washington a 2-1 lead with 2:57 left in the second period with a strong individual effort. He came from behind the net, and as the puck got into the air near Price, Eller batted it past him.
But the lead did not last long as Brendan Gallagher got control of a loose puck in front of the Washington net and beat Holtby with 1:23 remaining.
The Canadiens outshot the Caps 17-12 in that second period, came up with several chances once more, and Washington was fortunate to escape in a 2-2 tie.
Chiarot of Montreal posted the tiebreaker 30 seconds into the third period when he scored from the edge of the left circle. The Capitals then sent the game into overtime when Tom Wilson poked the puck past Price from in front with 20.1 seconds left.