In his final tune-up before the playoffs begin, Alex Ovechkin spent time on the ice with a different and beloved pair of teammates: his young sons, Sergei and Ilya.
The Washington Capitals invited Ovechkin and his teammates to bring family members on the ice to enjoy an Easter Sunday skate a day before their playoff opener.
Washington will face off against the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Monday night in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
“Spend time with the family an extra day, it’s a good thing,” said Ovechkin, who recently surpassed Wayne Gretzky as the NHL’s all-time leader in goals. “You can’t be focusing on too much the day before a game.”
The intensity will not take long to return.
Washington is hoping to launch a deep playoff run after winning 51 games and tallying a conference-high 111 points during the regular season. The Capitals finished atop the Metropolitan Division and will face a Canadiens team that tallied 91 points and captured the conference’s second and final wild-card berth.
Despite their accolades, the Capitals must prove to themselves that a sleepy finish to the regular season will not carry over into the postseason. Washington had such a big advantage in the standings that it was able to rest a few veterans down the stretch, which likely played a role in the team losing eight times in their final 12 games (4-7-1).
Capitals forward Dylan Strome said the keys to playoff success were simple.
“I think we want to play really good defense, try to find that midseason form that we were in a while ago and just be sharp for the playoffs,” Strome said. “I think it’s definitely within us. We’ve been playing decent hockey, kind of like .500 hockey the last little while, so it’s time to ratchet it up and get ready for the playoffs.”
Montreal took a much different path to the postseason. The Canadiens were on the outside looking in for much of the regular season, but finished strong to claim the final playoff spot.
“I’m so proud of the group,” said Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis. “Coming off the break, we had a 2 percent chance of making the playoffs. … Then we finish the year on a 7-1-2 run and try to stay ahead of Columbus, which was really hot down the stretch.
“For me, (when you have) a 2 percent chance, you still have a chance.”
Capitals coach Spencer Carbery did not reveal his starting goaltender on Sunday.
“You will find out (Monday) night,” Carbery said.
Logan Thompson is coming off an upper-body injury that cost him the final seven games of the regular season, but he has returned to full practice sessions. He went 31-6-6 with a 2.49 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage this season. He owns a 2-1-0 record with a 3.04 GAA and an .889 save percentage against Montreal in his career.
The other option is Charlie Lindgren, who went 20-14-3 with a 2.73 GAA and an .894 save percentage in the regular season. He is 3-1-0 with a 2.51 GAA and an .899 save percentage against the Canadiens, but the 31-year-old has lost all four of his playoff appearances. All four came last season when the Caps were swept in the first round by the New York Rangers.
Montreal is expected to start Sam Montembeault in net. He went 31-24-7 with a 2.82 GAA and a .901 save percentage this season. He is 2-3-0 with a 3.49 GAA and an .893 save percentage in his career against Washington.
The Canadiens’ offense is powered by Cole Caufield (team-best 37 goals) and Nick Suzuki (30 goals, team-high 89 points).
The Capitals and Canadiens have met in the playoffs only once before. That happened during the 2010 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, when Montreal fell behind 3-1 but stormed back to win the series in seven games.
