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Washington Capitals To Meet Montreal Canadiens In First Round Of 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs

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11 months ago

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Washington Capitals To Meet Montreal Canadiens In First Round Of 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs


Photo: Newsday

After a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at Bell Centre on Wednesday, the Montreal Canadiens clinched the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and will play the Washington Capitals, the top seed in the conference, in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Washington, who is currently 51-21-9 (.685 points percentage) and finish the regular season at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday (7 PM ET, ESPN), went 2-0-1 in three games against Montreal during the regular season, including a 6-3 win at Capital One Arena on October 31 and 4-2 victory at Bell Centre on December 7 despite trailing in each game.

The team finished first in the East a year after qualifying for the postseason as the second wild-card via the second tie breaker (32 regulation wins to 27) despite tying the Detroit Red Wings with 91 points.

Left-wing Alex Ovechkin’s 43 goals and 1.13 points-per-game (72 in 64) lead Washington despite the fact that he missed 16 games in November and December with a broken leg. Center Dylan Strome leads the team with career-highs in assists (52) and points (81) in 81 contests.

Goaltender Logan Thompson went 31-6-6 with a .910 save percentage, 2.49 goals-against average, and two shutouts this season, including going 1-0-1 with an .889 save percentage in two games against the Canadiens.

The Capitals may start the series without Thompson (upper-body injury; has not played since April 2) and Aliaksei Protas (lower-body; April 4).

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Montreal, who will qualify for the postseason for the first time since losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, has won eight of their last 11 games with one more to go in the regular season and a 40-31-11 record (.555 points percentage). They are 29-15-8 (.635) since starting 11-16-3.

Center Nick Suzuki leads Montreal with 89 points, at least 18 more than any other Canadien, in 82 outings. Suzuki and rookie defenseman Lane Hutson co-lead the team with 60 assists. Right-wing Cole Caufield has a team-leading 37 goals.

Goaltender Sam Montembeault entered Wednesday 30-24-7 with a .901 save percentage, 2.83 goals-against average, and four shutouts in 61 games this season. He gave up four goals on 35 shots (.886) in Montreal’s 4-2 loss to Washington on December 7, the only appearance he made against the Capitals this season.

Montreal beat Washington in seven games during the first round of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the eighth seed in the East in their only prior postseason meeting despite trailing the series 3-1. Washington won the Presidents’ Trophy with the NHL’s best regular-season record that season.

The NHL has yet to release the series schedule.

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All eight series for the first round are locked. The others are the:

  • second-seeded Carolina Hurricanes against the third-seeded New Jersey Devils in the Metropolitan Division
  • Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs against the first wild-card Ottawa Senators
  • second-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning vs. the third-seeded Florida Panthers in the Atlantic
  • First-seeded Winnipeg Jets vs. second wild-card St. Louis Blues in the Central
  • second-seeded Dallas Stars vs. third-seeded Colorado Avalanche in the Central
  • First-seeded Vegas Golden Knights vs. first wild-card Minnesota Wild in the Pacific
  • second-seeded Los Angeles Kings and third-seeded Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific

By Harrison Brown

About Harrison Brown

Harrison is a diehard Caps fan and a hockey fanatic with a passion for sports writing. He attended his first game at age 8 and has been a season ticket holder since the 2010-2011 season. His fondest Caps memory was watching the Capitals hoist the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas. In his spare time, he enjoys travel, photography, and hanging out with his two dogs. Follow Harrison on Twitter @HarrisonB927077





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Washington

Police finish DoorDash delivery after arresting driver in New Jersey

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4 hours ago

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March 5, 2026

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Police finish DoorDash delivery after arresting driver in New Jersey


WASHINGTON TWP., N.J. — Officers in Washington Township, said they finished a DoorDash food delivery after arresting the driver who had warrants out for his arrest.

Body camera video shows officers stepping in to deliver the food themselves, a move the department in southern New Jersey later shared on its Facebook page.

“I thought something happened. Oh my God, I got so scared,” said the customer when she answered the door.

The DoorDash customer, seen on police body cam video, was instantly relieved and appreciative upon learning why officers were at her door.

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“Arrested your driver, but, yeah, we delivered your food,” one of the officers said.

It turns out a Washington Township police officer stopped the DoorDash driver during routine patrols in front of a high school over the weekend.

“He made a stop on it for a violation,” said Washington Township Police Chief Patrick Gurcsik.

But then, Chief Gurcsik said the officer learned the driver had warrants out for his arrest in another county.

“He made the officers aware that he had two DoorDash meals in the car that he was in the middle of delivering,” Gurcsik said.

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The officers went from cuffing the driver to ringing a doorbell to finish his delivery.

“I never heard of anything like that in the South Jersey area. It’s sort of a first for us here in Washington Township, definitely,” Gurcsik said.

Police finish DoorDash delivery after arresting driver in New Jersey

It’s happened in other places, too, including in New Mexico last summer, when a motorcycle cop delivered someone’s Chick-fil-A order after arresting the driver.

“Hello, sir, got your DoorDash. Oh, thank you,” the officer said. “He’s a good kid, give him five stars. He just didn’t take care of a simple insurance ticket.”

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And officers over in Arizona made a similar arrest during a traffic stop and were seen on body camera finishing the delivery.

“Your GrubHub, still delivered your pizza,” the officer said.

“We definitely serve the community in more ways than one,” Gurcsik said.

Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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Washington

Holdout Democrats leave WA House support for income tax in doubt

Published

16 hours ago

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March 5, 2026

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Holdout Democrats leave WA House support for income tax in doubt


The votes weren’t there yet late Wednesday for Democrats’ income tax bill in the Washington state House.Democratic members are withholding support for the proposed income tax on millionaires, saying they want to see if a new version of the controversial legislation, possibly due out Thursday, will satisfy their concerns.



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Bill strengthening Washington child sex abuse material laws focuses on consciousness, AI

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1 day ago

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March 4, 2026

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Bill strengthening Washington child sex abuse material laws focuses on consciousness, AI


SEATTLE — A bill aimed at tightening Washington’s laws on child sex abuse material is headed to Gov. Bob Ferguson’s desk after clearing the Legislature unanimously.

King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said 2ESSB 5105 passed the House unanimously Tuesday night after the Senate unanimously approved it on Jan. 28, 2026.

SEE ALSO | Washington exempts clergy from reporting abuse learned in confession after settlement

Manion called the measure one of her public safety legislative priorities.

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“People who peddle in the misery of sexually abused children must be held accountable,” Manion said. “I am grateful for the work of Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Laura Harmon – both in prosecuting these cases and advocating for these legal fixes – and Senators Tina Orwall and Manka Dhingra for championing this legislation.”

Manion’s office said the current state law has gaps that can prevent prosecutors from holding offenders accountable in some cases.

Under current law, prosecutors cannot charge defendants for creating images of child sex abuse unless the child victim was conscious or knew they were being recorded.

The office also said that possessing sexually explicit fabricated (AI) images of non-identifiable minors is not considered child sex abuse material under Washington law.

The bill would update RCW 9.68A.040 to remove the requirement that a child be aware of an abusive recording. It would also update the definition of child sex abuse material to include fabricated (AI) images of non-identifiable minors.

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The legislation would also increase the statute of limitations to 10 years for depiction crimes. Manion’s office said the current statute of limitations is three years, and argued that because the images can remain online indefinitely, victims can be re-traumatized for decades.



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