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Tom Wilson: his hit on Alexandre Carrier turned the series on its head

Don’t look for the Capitals to stick the captain’s “C” on when Alex Ovechkin leaves the NHL.

More than ever, Tom Wilson is proving that he is the heart and soul of the Caps. He’s that player teams hate to face, but who becomes indispensable to his own team.

As Pierre-Luc Dubois said after the game: Wilson is an important leader in Washington.

But hey. Obviously, this morning, Montreal fans aren’t exactly singing his praises because he’s making life very difficult for Habs players.

In fact, no: he’s an absolute game-changer in the playoffs.

Wilson demonstrates two things. First, yes, he’s demonstrating that refereeing is two-tiered in the series(people in the Habs’ dressing room agree with that, anyway), but he’s also demonstrating that the CH has some eating to do before they can dance with the big boys in the playoffs.

And yesterday’s defeat made that clear: the CH is too small. Physically, they’re getting outplayed.

I know the CH mustn’t become that team that takes dirty shots at every turn, but the way the Caps control the rugged game puts the American club above the CH in the playoffs.

And Wilson’s hit on Alexandre Carrier, dirty as it was, is proof of that. The fact that Carrier got up like a man (instead of faker) probably didn’t prompt the referees to crack down.

We’re talking about that one, but we could also be talking about Alex Ovechkin’s hit on Carrier, who had a nasty night’s work last night in terms of staying healthy. Let’s hope he’s okay this morning, but I have a feeling he must be in a bad way.

But it was also the check on Jake Evans or all those little attempts by the Caps that got the CH out of the game. Because no, the Habs weren’t “minutes away from getting back in the game” the way they were playing.

Yes, the referees should have blown the whistle quite a bit more often, but the Capitals have figured out how to have success in the playoffs. And that has the Canadiens on the brink.

Will Martin St-Louis’ club be able to win three games in a row, including two in Washington? The question arises.

Momentum has shifted in the wake of Wilson’s blow. The CH had some momentum, but it was killed off by the Caps’ physical play, whose hit (a pig whose point of contact was the head) on Carrier was the cherry on the sundae.

Actually, no: the cherry on the sundae was this.

And what about Carrier? The Canadiens have to hope that the defenseman, who stabilizes the blue line, will be able to play on Wednesday. Because without him, the club just isn’t the same.

We’ll see when the time comes.

But hey. It’s not enough to remember Wilson’s physical play in a 5-2 setback (including two goals in an empty net) in the Montreal Canadiens’ Game #4.

What else did I notice?

1. Mike Matheson spent 28 minutes on the ice, including more than eight minutes (8:06) shorthanded. Without Carrier for a while, it was clear he was going to play a lot.

Many people like to criticize his defensive mistakes, but without him, the CH’s defensive corps would look like a headless chicken.

2. Seeing Matheson eat up minutes like that means Lane Hutson can flourish offensively. And just yesterday, he masterfully led the power play.

His two assists mean he has five in the playoffs and 65 including the season. 65 is a league record for a rookie defenseman.

His two assists were collected on the power play, which has been going well since Patrik Laine was replaced by Ivan Demidov. The five guys in the first wave are young and can be around for a long time.

Ivan Demidov also picked up two assists and made his first “signature” play of the playoffs. #Wow

Three of the CH’s eight goals since Friday have come from the first power play wave… and Alex Newhook, on Friday, also scored on the power play. Nothing too serious.

That’s positive… and that’s precisely the point François Gagnon made to Martin St-Louis when the latter told reporters he didn’t know what to say to his players after the game.

3. We were talking about playing time earlier: here’s more.

Ivan Demidov played 13:38, which isn’t entirely bad. He was the third least-used forward, ahead of Oliver Kapanen (5:33) and Emil Heineman (8:19).

Defensively, Kaiden Guhle (22:45) and Lane Hutson (21:00) also played a lot. Arber Xhekaj (12:51) and David Savard (14:49… in what may have been his last game at the Bell Centre) took more, with Alex Carrier playing just 13 minutes and 39 seconds.

But it’s clear that the top-4 defensemen really have the coach’s confidence.

4. The CH took just 18 shots on net for the Capitals… nine of which came in the third period. At one point, they only had six shots after 34 minutes of play, which is too few.

How do you score (especially at five-on-five) without shooting?

5. Jakub Dobes didn’t have a bad game. He wasn’t perfect on the three goals given away, but he made some big saves and kept his club in the game.

The defeat was not his fault.

6. Alexandre Carrier… Samuel Montembeault… Kirby Dach… Patrik Laine… no wonder injuries are starting to affect the CH, which has qualified for the playoffs because the club has been relatively healthy.

Hm…

extension

The Habs will enjoy a day off (which will give the club’s Canadiens time to vote?), but we still wonder if guys like Patrik Laine or Samuel Montembeault will be able to skate.

Probably not, but hey.

There will be press conferences at 1 p.m. at the Bell Centre, but it will be a quieter day for the Habs, who need to win their next three games to advance to the next round.

The CH trailed Toronto 3-1 in 2021, but can you believe it in 2025?

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Series wrap-up: Oilers return to Los Angeles on level terms

On this action-packed Sunday in the NHL, four series continued.

I’ve already summarized the Jets game and the Habs game.

Here are the other results and highlights:

Oilers return to Los Angeles tied

The Kings have won the first two games of this series.

And after an Oilers win, they could return home ahead 3-1. But Evan Bouchard had other plans.

He scored two goals in the third period to force overtime.

He scored the tying goal at the very end of the game.

And in overtime, Leon Draisaitl chose the right moment to score his first goal of the 2025 series. He picked up an assist on his team’s first three goals.

The series is tied 2-2!

In fact, all the Western series are.

Los Angeles and Edmonton return to action in California tomorrow.

Frederik Andersen leaves the game

This is definitely not the series for number-one goaltenders. Connor Hellebuyck is not having a good series, and Logan Thompson and Samuel Montembeault went down fighting in game three of their series.

Now it’s Frederik Andersen’s turn to leave the game. Yesterday against New Jersey, the Dane was injured after a collision with Timo Meier.

The goalkeeper will be re-evaluated today.

Moments later, Meier took advantage to cut the deficit to one goal on goalie number two Pyotr Kochetkov.

New Jersey was unable to stop Andrei Svechnikov, however.

The Russian scored a hat trick.

5-2 win for the Canes.

They could eliminate the Devils at home on Tuesday.

Carolina leads the series 3-1.

Overtime

– What a shot!

– Draisaitl leads the charge.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– Two series continue tonight.

(Credit: NHL.com )
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Jakub Dobes and Martin St-Louis give their message to the referees

Tonight’s game against the Capitals was a mixed bag.

In a 5-2 setback (including two empty-net goals), Tom Wilson and Alex Ovechkin, with their strong play, got the Habs out of that game, one check at a time.

Alexandre Carrier… Jake Evans… almost any guy, really.

But what we could notice was that the refereeing was once again the talk of the town. But this time, it looked like it was more the Habs who were the “victims” of the referees’ calls.

And the CH team doesn’t seem to be hiding it.

Jakub Dobes, who wasn’t bad during the game, awarded a goal because Alexandre Carrier was hit hard, creating a natural overhit in favor of the Caps.

And the goalie doesn’t understand the lack of penalty on the hit, which was a turning point in the game and the series.

I guess I don’t know the rules.

I feel like the referees should have whistled. I mean, it was scary, but I guess the rules don’t apply to everyone in this league. – Jakub Dobes

And Martin St-Louis?

Without going as far as his goalie, we sensed the coach was irritated. He clearly didn’t want to talk to the media (nothing against journalists personally, but just because of the timing) because he didn’t want to escape. The coach simply talked about decisions that were difficult to watch.

St-Louis, who asked reporters for suggestions on what to say to his players to cheer them up, wanted to get his message across quietly. But with his goalie’s comments to boot, we understand.

The CH has been told not to overdo it (as have the Caps, for that matter), and you get the feeling that MSL would have liked the referees to practice what they preached.

in a row

– It would take a miracle to put this back together.

– Alexandre Carrier: no update.

– He said all the right things in the press conference.

– The CH goalie wasn’t naughty.

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Caps one game away from eliminating the Canadiens

The Canadiens took on the Capitals tonight.

The goal for Martin St-Louis’ team: to tie the series.

Here are the line-ups:

Logan Thompson was surprisingly in front of the Caps net.

No Aliaksei Protas, though.

The first period was scoreless, but Dylan Strome broke the ice early in the second.

Bad goal by Jakub Dobes…

At one point in the second, the CH found themselves 5-on-3 for 44 seconds.

But thanks in part to Mike Matheson, Montreal managed to kill off both penalties, and suddenly the momentum shifted.

The home team also took advantage of a power play, and unlike the Caps, they made the most of it. Ivan Demidov’s first elimination point was just that.

Lane Hutson also picked up an assist on Juraj Slafkovsky’s goal.

He’s the oldest player ever to get a point on net. He’s 21 years old…

No defenseman in history has as many assists as the young defenseman in a single season (playoffs included).

After two periods, Montreal had just 9 shots on goal, six of them in 34 minutes, but still managed to beat Logan Thompson one more time before the end of the period.

Again on the power play, Cole Caufield scored his third goal of the series. Hutson and Demidov picked up their second assists of the game on the sequence.

For Hutson, that’s already five assists since the start of the playoffs.

I don’t think Patrik Laine will be back on the first wave of the power play anytime soon…

In the third period, however, the Caps tied the game. After Tom Wilson laid a big check on Alexandre Carrier, who didn’t finish the game, Brandon Duhaime took advantage and found the back of the net.

Carrier was stunned.

The game seemed headed for overtime, but with just over three minutes to go, Andrew Mangiapane foiled Dobes with a veiled shot.

Final score: 5-2 Washington, which leads the series 3-2. Duhaime and Tom Wilson scored the insurance goals in an empty net.

Spencer Carbery’s team can eliminate the CH on Wednesday at home.

Montreal will have to win the next three games against the best team in the East to stay alive.

Extension

– Let’s hope Alex Ovechkin follows the CH’s account on X.

– It’s crazy.

– A nice visit.

– He did quite a job in PK.

– He still has the CH in his heart.

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Tom Wilson field hockey cards in Bell Centre urinals

Since his arrival in the NHL, Tom Wilson has been a player hated by all opposing players and teams.

In 2025, the Habs are learning the hard way: Wilson (Josh Anderson’s kid) is a pest.

The Capitals’ No. 43 will never be Brad Marchand or Chris Kreider, but he’s definitely not fan-favorite. Today, there were field hockey cards of the forward in the Bell Centre urinals.

For now in this series, that’s where his field hockey cards should be: in the urinals.

CH fans are always going to be a cut above the rest when it comes to taunting opponents.

I don’t know if Tom Wilson will see this photo on his social networks, but he’d certainly laugh.

We’ve learned over the last few years that the guy’s got a good sense of humor after all. Let’s transport ourselves first to 2021:

And on Friday night, he was seen mocking Juraj Slafkovsky on his bench. His mocking face made the rounds on the web.

Legendary!

At the start of the second period, an official and a linesman didn’t even give him a chance to skate a little.

They told him to go straight to the bench. Arber Xhekaj was also passing by and was intercepted by the police, too… The NHL doesn’t want any more incidents involving Wilson, Xhekaj, Anderson, etc.

In a gust

– He doesn’t help himself.

– Two penalties because of 43…

– He’s not alone.

– Well done.

– Victory for the Canadiens.

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In 13 playoff games, Hellebuyck allows an average of more than four goals per game

Connor Hellebuyck dominated this year’s regular-season NHL goaltending.

For goals-against average (2.01), he finished first. His efficiency average of .925 was good for second in the entire NHL. He also won a lot: 47 victories.

In short, he’ll be the one to win the Vézina. It’s a good thing the race for the best goalie trophy doesn’t continue into the playoffs, because the American wouldn’t win it.

He’s not having a good series. Today, for the second match in a row, he was thrown out of the game.

The Blues thwarted him five times and tied the series at two.

Things are so bad for the Iceman that people are starting to wonder whether his reserve Eric Comrie should start game five in Winnipeg.

In two games in relief of his teammate, Comrie has stopped eight of nine shots.

I’d like to go a step further and show you the following statistics.

In his last 13 playoff games, Hellebuyck has a goals-against average of 4.50 and an efficiency average of .860. During this slump, he helped his team win only three times. Two of those times were earlier in the series against the Blues.

Is the Jets goaltender the Maple Leafs in front of the net? He’s a monster in the regular season, but during the spring tournament, he disguises himself as a Swiss cheese…

Of all the goalkeepers to have played a playoff game in 2025, he ranks last for saves made above expectations.

He’s minus-7 (!).

Is he overtaxed on the season or just not focused enough after Game 82.

Jets fans should start worrying…

Gossip

– New Jersey on the brink.

– A bomb.

– Heating up.

– Unacceptable.

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Jakub Dobes has always been successful in the series

As we all know, the Montreal Canadiens lost the services of Samuel Montembeault in Game #3 of the series against the Washington Capitals.

Jakub Dobes will now have the tough task of slowing down the Caps.

However, when you look at Dobes’ past playoff stats, Tricolore fans can be reassured.

Indeed, the Czech goaltender has enjoyed a great deal of success, despite the fact that he’s never had a big team in front of him in the USHL and especially in the NCAA.

In this Toutsurlehockey text, there’s a nice summary of his playoff and tournament runs in the NCAA.

Basically, there’s one thing to remember about Dobes in the big moments: he’s even better when he’s tested more.

And that’s just as well, because the Capitals are dangerous and can easily challenge the young goalie.

In the USHL playoffs, while with the Omaha Lancers, he posted a 2.10 goals-against average and a 0.923 save percentage in two games.

His playoff performances also carried over to the NCAA regional tournaments (prior to the famous Frozen Four).

At Ohio State, Dobes was the team’s best asset.

In three games against Penn State in 2022, Dobes allowed eight goals on 125 shots (.936). Ohio State was at a significant disadvantage for this series, but Dobes kept his club in it.

Of the three games, Dobes stole one, in which he faced nearly 50 shots.

The following year, his final season in the NCAA, Ohio State advanced to the semi-finals with two wins in three games against Penn State.

Ohio State eventually lost to the mighty Wolverines of the University of Michigan (Michael Hage’s current club).

In short, CH fans can rest easy knowing that Dobes performs very well under pressure, even more so when he’s taking a lot of shots.

What’s more, we need only think of Dobes’ first five games in his NHL debut, when he was exceptional.

Let’s see what he has in store for us tonight, in game #4.

In gusto

– The Leafs may have the NHL’s best playoff trio in Matthews-Marner-Knies. [BPM]

– A guy tries, as they say.

– For those who didn’t know, Jaccob Slavin has a very accurate shot:

– In the end, there was no penalty on the sequence.

– Some news in the MLB.

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“We’re happy to have Primeau back”

One thing’s for sure: the first game of the Canadiens-Capitals series at the Bell Centre was quite a spectacle.

Start with the famous altercation between Tom Wilson and Josh Anderson.

Then, on a slightly less positive note, both clubs lost the services of their starting goaltenders, Logan Thompson and Samuel Montembeault.

Thompson was back in training this morning, but it’s unclear whether he’ll be the starting goalie for tonight’s game #4, but all indications are that he will be.

As for Montembeault, it’s less positive, as he wasn’t at training this morning.

Jakub Dobes will make a start, while Cayden Primeau will take over as needed.

Martin St-Louis commented on Primeau’s return to the Canadiens, and he’s very happy.

The head coach also added that he’s very impressed with what Primeau has done in the last three months with the Laval Rocket.

And rightly so, becausehe’s broken the AHL record for best win rate (0.880).

Following Montembeault’s injury in the last game, Primeau was at Lucas Condotta’s, watching the game, before heading off to the Bell Centre in emergency mode with all his equipment.

He couldn’t be dressed, however, because he wasn’t called back until 5:00 p.m., Renaud Lavoie reports.

In Dan Kramer’s latest tweet, we understand that Primeau had a slight cold, as he was “sniffling” in the interview.

A little cold isn’t going to stop a pro goalie from playing backup in the middle of the playoffs.

In short, the CH have a big challenge ahead of them tonight, as this will be the most important game of Dobes’ young career.

I can’t wait to see the final line-ups.

Gossip

– For the second time in a row, Connor Hellebuyck is out of the game after a poor performance.

– It smells like the end for the Devils….

– Jake Neighbours will be a great asset for the Blues in the years to come.

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Lane Hutson performs better with Arber Xhekaj than Kaiden Guhle

Since the start of the season, Lane Hutson has been truly impressive.

His performances have truly exceeded expectations, much to the delight of all Montreal Canadiens fans.

The young defenseman has wasted no time in establishing himself as one of the CH’s best, if not the CH’s best defenseman, and has been very consistent throughout the season.

What’s even more incredible is that Hutson managed to be consistent and maintain a high production rate, even though he often changed partners.

Indeed, Hutson went through several duos over the course of the season, and even though he remained consistent, these changes had an impact on his playing style and performance.

As a result, the CH No. 48 did better with some partners than with others.

In fact, when we analyze the advanced statistics of all the duos Lane Hutson completed this season, we notice that Hutson performed better with Arber Xhekaj than with Kaiden Guhle.

(Credit: NaturalStatTrick.com)

Indeed, when Xhekaj and Hutson found themselves playing together this season, they generated more shots than they allowed, which is not the case for the Guhle-Hutson pair.

As can be seen in the table above, when we combine shots for and shots against, we obtain a percentage (CF% = Corsi For %), which tells us whether a defensive pair is in the positive or not.

Xhekaj and Hutson are above 50% at 55.12, while Hutson and Guhle are at 47.78%.

What this means is that when Hutson played with Xhekaj this season, he managed to generate more shots while allowing fewer than when he played with Guhle.

This is a very interesting fact, and helps explain why we saw less of Hutson at the end of the season, since he was paired with Guhle.

The CH’s No. 48 produced fewer points late in the season, and he was risking fewer plays by getting deep into the opponent’s zone.

He played much more conservatively and cautiously, considering that Guhle often plays very high up in the opponent’s zone, forcing Hutson to cover his backs.

It was an adaptation that number 48 had to make, and it worked against him somewhat.

In the end, am I saying that Xhekaj should play with Hutson?

No, not necessarily.

But I do find it interesting to note that Martin St-Louis’ “unloved one” did very well alongside Hutson, and did better than one of the CH’s best defenders, Kaiden Guhle.

Now that Xhekaj is back in the line-up, pairing him with Hutson for a few appearances now and then wouldn’t be all that crazy, considering they have good advanced stats together.

Still, I wouldn’t completely break up the Hutson-Guhle pairing, especially since since the start of the playoffs, they’ve formed one of the NHL’s best pairs.

Hutson and Guhle rank 5ᵉ among NHL pairs (having played at least 20 minutes together) with their Corsi For % of 59.81.

(Credit: NaturalStatTrick.com)

In short, you have to believe that the two youngsters have finally found a good chemistry, because everything is working really well right now for them, and Hutson seems to have found his offensive ease again.

In a gust

– Four games not to be missed today.

– Indeed.

– Vinzenz Rohrer in no danger of joining the Rocket.

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Tom Wilson: “Sometimes I should keep my mouth shut”

Tom Wilson made a fool of himself last game.

He went after Juraj Slafkovsky after his altercation with Josh Anderson, waving like a guy crying.

The cameras were fixed on the Capitals striker… and it resulted in what we know today (hehe) :

But Wilson admitted it today: sometimes, he lets his emotions get the better of him.

He told the media at the Bell Centre who needs to learn to keep their mouths shut sometimes… and he came back to the situation from the last game, saying he wasn’t aiming for the whole Habs team when he played the baby.

Wilson specified that his gesture was aimed at a particular Habs player, and he didn’t want to name him… but we know he’s talking about Slaf:

I love his humility.

Tom Wilson knows he may have lit a fire under the Habs by doing this, and he also knows he has to live with the consequences. But at least he’s aware of the fact that he’s done it… and it’ll be interesting to see if the CH will be able to make him pay.

I’d love to see Slaf freeze him out in the corner tonight!

The Caps forward had better strap on his skates, because he’s going to get his ass kicked between now and the end of the series.

Arber Xhekaj even started practicing his moves this morning at practice… 🤣 :

In all of this, I also wonder what the other Capitals players are thinking.

Do they think Wilson did too much? Do they think Wilson handled the situation well and did what he had to do?

Because if there are guys in the room who aren’t happy, it can affect the team’s results on the ice. And if that’s the case… maybe it can help the CH beat the Capitals in the first round.

Breaking news

– Good news.

– Good point!

– Exact.

– The goalies are weird.