The Washington Capitals take on the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night for Game 1 of the best of seven first round series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
How to watch and more
Puck drop for Game 1 tonight is at 7 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network and ESPN. You can also listen to the game on 106.7 The Fan and Caps Radio 24/7.
The Canadiens vs Capitals betting odds for Game 1 per Caesars have the Capitals as 1.5 goal favorites on home ice. The Caps have -190 moneyline odds while the Canadiens are the underdog at +158. The over/under is set at 6.0 goals.
Washington had a record of 2-0-1 against Montreal during the regular season and outscored the Canadiens 12-8 over three games. This series marks the second all time playoff meeting between the two teams with the other time being in the spring of 2010.
The Capitals are 27-21 which is good for a .563 percentage in Game 1s all time and 17-12 with a .586 percentage in Game 1s played at home. Washington won its last two Game 1s played at Capital One Arena.
Those two wins came in 2019 Game 1 of the first round against the Carolina Hurricanes and the 2021 Game 1 of the first round against the Boston Bruins.
The Capitals are in the big dance for the 10th time in their last 11 seasons and the 34th time in the club's 50 year history. Since 2007-08, no team has made the playoffs more than Washington as they qualified for the big dance 16 times in the last 18 seasons. In additoin, the Capitals 34 playoff appearances in the last 42 seasons dating back to 1982-83 are tied with the Boston Bruins for the most in the NHL in that span.
The Capitals ranked second in the NHL in goals for this season with 286 after ranking 28th in 2023-24 (216 goals). The Caps 286 goals in 2024-25 marked their most in a season since 2009-10 when they had 313. Washington also ranked second in the NHL in five on five goals with 190.
The Caps ranked tied for eighth in the NHL in goals against per game this season with 2.79. It marked the first time the Capitals ranked in the top 10 in goals against since 2016-17 when they led the League with 2.16 goals against per game.
Washington was one of seven teams this season to rank in the top 10 in goals for per game (3.49, 2nd in the NHL) and goals against per game (2.79, tied for 8th in the NHL).
The Metropoolitan Division champion Caps were the first team to clinch a playoff berth this season on March 20 while Montreal was the last to clinch on April 16.
Last season, Washington was the last team to clinch a playoff berth and became the only team since 1979-80 that has gone from being last to clinch in one season to the first to do so the next season.
Washington qualified for the playoffs last year with a -36 goal differrential. This season they finished with a +57 goal differential. Per NHL Stats, the Caps +93 jump in goal differential is the eighth highest season to season improvement in NHL history among teams who qualified for the playoffs both years.