The Washington Capitals (26-14-6) return home for a three-game homestand on Tuesday night. They will host the Montreal Canadiens (23-17-6) at Capital One Arena.
The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Capitals are coming off two games in the Midwest that served as their 2025-26 Mentors’ Trip. They crushed Chicago 5-1 on Friday, but fell to Nashville 3-2 on Sunday.
Already missing Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson, the Capitals played without Jakob Chychrun (illness) and lost Justin Sourdif early in the second period.
The Capitals managed to outplay Nashville on the 5-on-5 and score two power-play goals. However, the team once again failed to string together victories for the first time since early December.
Early in the game, Alex Ovechkin scored on a 5-on-3 power play to reach the 20-goal mark for the 21st consecutive season. The Capitals then trailed 3-1 in the third when Ethen Frank cut it to one on the man advantage.
Since their shootout loss to Anaheim on Dec. 5, the Capitals are 6-8-4 across an 18-game span. The team has not been able to piece together a winning streak over five and a half weeks.
Both of these teams previously met in Montreal on Nov. 20, where the Capitals left with a stellar 8-4 victory. Ovechkin had a hat trick, while Frank and Sonny Milano each scored twice.
Tuesday’s game is the back end of a set of back-to-backs for Montreal, as they hosted Vancouver and beat them 6-3. It’s also the beginning of a three-game road trip for the Canadiens, who will then head to Buffalo and Ottawa.
Expected Capitals Lines
Forwards
Aliaksei Protas – Dylan Strome – Alex Ovechkin
Anthony Beauvillier – Connor McMichael – Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Ethen Frank
Sonny Milano – Hendrix Lapierre – Brett Leason
Defensemen
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Jakob Chychrun – Matt Roy
Rasmus Sandin – Dylan McIlrath
Goalie
Logan Thompson
Expected Canadiens Lines
Forwards
Cole Caulfield – Nick Suzuki – Alexandre Texier
Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov
Josh Anderson – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher
Sammy Blais – Joe Veleno – Zachary Bolduc
Defensemen
Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Lane Hutson – Alexandre Carrier
Kaiden Guhle – Arber Xhekaj
Goalie
Sam Montembeault
How to Watch
TV: Monumental Sports Network
Radio: 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio Network
