The Washington Capitals will look to end their first round series with the Montreal Canadiens as early as Wednesday night's Game 5. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network and ESPN. Here are 3 Habs players to watch as we scout the oppositon.
#3 Lane Hutson
Lane Hutson is a 20 year old defenseman who leads the Habs in assists and points with five so far in the playoffs. Two of those assists came at even strength while three came on the power play advantage. He also has three shots on goal and a plus/minus of -3.
In the regular season Hutson had six goals and 60 assists for 66 points as well as a plus/minus of -2. He averaged 22:44 minutes of ice time per game in the regular season while in the playoffs his ice time per game average is at 24:15.
In the playoffs he has one blocked shot and one hit. In the regular season he had 123 blocks and 40 hits. His playoff advanced stats include a 59.56 percent corsi for percentage, a 58.17 percent expected goals for percentage and a 56.25 percent high danger chances for percentage.
#2 Cole Caufield
Cole Caufield is a right winger that's 24 years old and he's always a threat when he's on the ice. In the regular season he had 37 goals and 33 assists for 70 points. In the playoffs he has three goals and one assist for four points.
In the playoffs Caufield's plus/minus is at -4 while it was plus nine during the regular season. Caufield's playoff advanced stats include a corsi for percentage of 62.32 percent, a 58.17 percent expected goals for percentage, and a 56.25 high danger chances for percentage.
Caufield's ice time in the regular season averaged to about 18:05 minutes a night while in the playoffs his average ice time is 19:39.
#1 Nick Suzuki
Nick Suzuki is a 25 year old center and is the team captain of the Candiens. So far this playoffs he has two goals and is a plus/minus of -3 while averaging 22:11 minutes a night. In the regular season his numbers included 30 goals and 59 assists for 89 points along with a plus/minus of +19. He averaged 20:04 minutes a night.
His advanced stats in the playoffs include a corsi for percentage of 62.42 percent as well as an expected goals for percenage of 61.54 percent and a 62.07 percent high danger chances for percentage.