MONTREAL - A bench brawl. Two starting goalies exiting with injuries. A dominant 6-3 victory from the home team.
The long wait for a full-house playoff game at the Bell Centre culminated in a night that won’t soon be forgotten.
The Montreal Canadiens ran over the Capitals in an electric Game 3 on Friday, cutting Washington’s lead to 2-1 in the first-round, best-of-seven playoff series.
“Insane. I still can't believe it,†rookie defenceman Lane Hutson said. “It's surreal."
Captain Nick Suzuki used the word “emotional†to describe the evening. Cole Caufield called the night “energetic,†selling it miles short.
There were heavy hits — 45 from the Canadiens alone — loads of goals and drama before a passionate fan base starved for playoff action.
“We've been waiting a long time for this,†Josh Anderson said. “Our fan base has been waiting, us players have been waiting. It's been a few tough years.â€
Standing out among it all — a heated fight between Anderson and hard-hitting Capitals forward Tom Wilson that spilled into Washington’s bench at the end of the second period.
After some pushing and shoving between Wilson and bruising defenceman Arber Xhekaj, Anderson intervened before falling backwards into the Capitals' bench, which had a door open.
The six-foot-four, 225-pound Wilson followed the six-foot-three, 226-pound Anderson in and charged through a linesman toward the Canadiens winger before a crackling crowd.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery watched it unfold from a front-row seat.
"I was on my way to walk across the ice,†he said. “Then I had to reverse my course and head back, because there were two large individuals coming through the door that I was trying to exit.â€
"Things escalated. Got out of control there a little bit,†Anderson added. “You're just trying to stick up for your teammates."
Cole Caufield and Alex Newhook had a goal and an assist while Christian Dvorak, Nick Suzuki, Alexandre Carrier and Juraj Slafkovsky also scored in a full-team effort for Montreal.
Alex Ovechkin, Connor McMichael and Jakob Chychrun replied for Washington, which won Games 1 and 2 at home.
Montreal goaltender Sam Montembeault stopped 11 of 13 shots before exiting with 8:21 remaining in the second period with an undisclosed injury. Rookie netminder Jakub Dobes saved seven of eight the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, Logan Thompson — berated by “Thomp-son!†taunts all night — stopped 30 of 35 shots before also leaving with an injury.
The Capitals netminder needed to be helped off the ice after teammate Dylan Strome crashed into him following Slafkovsky’s goal with 6:37 remaining. Backup Charlie Lindgren made four saves in relief.
Neither coach had an update on their starter’s status.
Moments before the jaw-dropping brawl, Caufield buried his second of the playoffs to put the Canadiens up 3-2 with nine seconds left in the second period after an interception and cross-ice feed from Hutson.
Ovechkin responded with a tying goal past Dobes 2:39 into the third period, but Dvorak’s shot banked off Duhaime and into the net at 4:17 to restore Montreal’s one-goal lead.
Slafkovsky then made it 5-3, slotting a Caufield pass into the net before Thompson left the ice in noticeable pain. Newhook put the game out of reach with a power-play goal at 17:35 as “Olé, Olé†chants echoed around the building.
"We knew we had to turn it up to another level,†Slafkovsky said. "It was something crazy. I never experienced something like today. The crowd was amazing, and I hope we can bring more and more playoff games to this building.
“This is probably the best feeling."
It was Montreal’s first playoff game with a sold-out crowd since 2017. The Canadiens played before a limited-capacity crowd of 3,500 in their last playoff home game during a surprise run to the Stanley Cup final in a pandemic-shortened 2021 season.
Three years of dwelling near the NHL’s basement followed in a market where hockey is often described as religion.
Amped up well before the puck dropped, the crowd let out deafening “Go Habs Go!†chants after the Canadiens jumped out onto the ice. The feverish cheers delayed the national anthems, before fans mercilessly booed “The Star-Spangled Banner†and belted out “O Canada.â€
"It was special, to be honest, just during the anthem and how loud the building was, it's hard to describe it. I think you have to live it,†Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said. “Our fans were unbelievable tonight. We needed that juice. They gave us the juice.â€
Game 4 will take place Sunday evening back at the Bell Centre.
“To think that we're doing that again in another day,†Hutson said. “We definitely can't take it for granted. We're fortunate that we get to do this.â€
This report by ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø was first published April 25, 2025.
