Photo: Getty Images

The Washington Capitals host the Montreal Canadiens for the first meeting of the season between the two teams. The Capitals swept last year’s season series with Montreal, including a 6-3 victory at home on November 24. Action from Capital One Arena can be seen on NBC Sports Washington in-market or ESPN+ out-of-market beginning at 7 PM ET.

Schedule

The Canadiens close out a two-game road trip and set of back-to-backs after losing to the Detroit Red Wings by a score of 3-0 on Friday.

The Capitals continue a stretch where they start the season with four of six games at home and begin a two-game homestand.

Records

2021-22

Canadiens: 11-23-7 on road (29th in NHL), 22-49-11/.335 points percentage (last)

Capitals: 19-16-6 at home (21st), 44-26-12 (.610) – fourth in Metropolitan Division/eighth in Eastern Conference

2022-23

Canadiens: 1-1-0

Capitals: 0-2-0

Team Leaders

2021-22

Canadiens:

• RW Cole Canfield (23 goals)
• C Nick Suzuki (40 assists, 61 points)
• D David Savard (20:47 TOI/game)

Capitals:

• LW Alex Ovechkin (50 goals, 90 points)
• C Evgeny Kuznetsov (54 assists)
• D John Carlson (54 assists, 23:49 TOI/game)

2022-23

Canadiens:

• Caufield (two goals, two points)
• Suzuki (two assists, two points)
• Savard (22:47 TOI/game)

Capitals:

• LW Anthony Mantha/LW Conor Sheary/C Nic Dowd/LW Marcus Johansson (one goal each)
• D Erik Gustafsson (two assists, two points)
• Dowd (two points)
• Carlson (25:37 TOI/game)

Key Team Stats Through Two Games

Canadiens

Power-play: 0-for-seven

Penalty-kill: seven-for-seven

Giveaways: 33

Blocked Shots: 39

Faceoff-winning percentage: 55%

Capitals

Power-play: 0-for-nine

Penalty-kill: four-for-six

Hits: 81

Takeaways: 17

Giveaways: 31

Expected Starting Goaltenders

Canadiens: Sam Montembeault, 25 — first start this season; 8-18-6, .891 save percentage, 3.77 goals-against average, one shutout in 38 games last season; 0-1-0, .837 save percentage, 5.23 goals-against average in two career games vs. Washington

Capitals: TBD

— Charlie Lindgren, 28 – 5-0-0, .958 save percentage, 1.22 goals-against average in five NHL games with St. Louis Blues; 24-7-3, .925 save percentage, 2.21 goals-against average in 34 games with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds; 36 saves on 39 shots (.923 save percentage) in Capitals’ loss at Toronto Maple Leafs; 22 saves on 23 shots (.957 save percentage) in lone career appearance vs. Montreal, which came last season; 10-12-2, .907 save percentage, 3.00 goals-against average, two shutouts in 24 career games with Montreal from 2015-20

— Darcy Kuemper, 32 — 37-12-4, .921 save percentage, 2.54 goals-against average, five shutouts in 57 games with Colorado Avalanche; 25 saves on 29 shots (.862 save percentage) in Capitals’ season-opening 5-2 loss vs. Boston Bruins; 3-2-0, .908 save percentage, 2.39 goals-against average in six career games against Montreal, including a 28-save performance (.933 save percentage) last season on January 22

Injuries/Illnesses

Canadiens

* RW Joel Armia (upper-body, will miss third straight game, out week-to-week)

* D Mike Matheson (lower-body, third, day-to-day)

* LW Paul Byron (hip, third, indefinite)

* D Joel Edmundson (back, third, indefinite)

Capitals

* LW Carl Hagelin (hip, third, indefinite)

* RW Tom Wilson (ACL, third, indefinite)

* C Nicklas Backstrom (hip, third, indefinite)

Projected Lineups

Canadiens

Caufield — Suzuki — Josh Anderson
Juraj Slafkovsky — Christian Dvorak — Brendan Gallagher
Mike Hoffman — Sean Monahan — Kirby Dach
Rem Pitlick — Jake Evans — Evgenii Dadonov

Kaiden Guhle — Savard
Amber Xhekaj — Chris Wideman
Jordan Harris — Johnathan Kovacevic

Montembault
Jake Allen

Scratched: D Corey Schueneman, LW Michael Pezzetta

Capitals

Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Aliaksei Protas
Mantha— Evgeny Kuznetsov — Connor Brown
Johansson — Lars Eller — T.J. Oshie
Sheary — Dowd — Garnet Hathaway

Martin Fehervary — Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen
Gustafsson — Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Kuemper
Lindgren

Scratched: LW Joe Snively, C Connor McMichael, D Matt Irwin

Game Notes

By Harrison Brown