Canadiens and Capitals playoff notebook: Backup goalies set to take center stage in Game 4?

MONTREAL Charlie Lindgren began his first game at the Bell Centre since 2020 in a new seat: by himself, in the tunnel to the visitors dressing room.

Lindgren made 24 starts for the Canadiens from 2015-20.

Two seasons later, he established himself as a full-time NHL goaltender with the Capitals.

On Friday, he was soaking in the pregame playoff scenes like the rest of us.

Advertisement Youre essentially just sitting with the fans, Lindgren said on Saturday.

(I was) probably just as energized as anyone.

By the end of the game, Lindgrens vantage point had shifted again.

He was in the visitors net, taking over for injured Washington starter Logan Thompson and standing across the ice from another injury replacement, Montreals Jakub Dobes playing in place of Sam Montembeault.

Now, after a 6-3 Montreal win cut Washingtons series lead to 2-1, whatever comes next will likely hinge on a pair of backup goaltenders, with neither the Canadiens nor Capitals providing updates Saturday on their respective injured No.

1 goalies .

The circumstances of their situations are fundamentally different, but their task is the same.

Its a virtual certainty that Lindgren, for a second straight season, starts playoff games for the Capitals.

Last spring, he dragged them into the postseason; in his final three starts, all wins, he stopped 75 of the 78 shots he faced.

Washington squeaked through on tiebreakers and was swept in the first round by the Rangers.

In 2024-25, with Thompson in the mix, Lindgrens save percentage dipped from .911 to .894; his teammates faith in him, though, is fully intact.

They showed concern for Thompson, but not over the capability of his replacement.

Charlies proven it to all of us in here over the last three years that hes very capable of handling himself in the playoffs (and) in the regular season, Capitals center Dylan Strome said.

Like (Alex Ovechkin) said last night, weve got two really good goalies.

We know Chuckie Lindgren, Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said.

Hes done a great job, hes a great goaltender.

Theres no concern there.

If Lindgren starts Game 4, itll be a full-circle moment for a player who went undrafted in 2013 and, as recently as 2021 with the St.

Louis Blues, was playing on a two-way contract.

Itll also be a big deal for Charlies father Bob, an accomplished goalie himself who grew up loving the Canadiens and idolizing Ken Dryden.

Advertisement Every day, I kept on working to get to moments like this, to potentially play moments like this, Lindgren said.

And you think about 10-year-old Charlie and what he would do to be in a situation like this.

Lindgrens backstory included a lot of hurdles , being cut from teams, falling down and getting back up, time after time.

Dobes similarly overcame early hurdles in his career , finding himself without a team to play for in his native Czechia at age 16, picking up his life and moving to St.

Louis so he could play midget triple-A hockey and finish high school in a foreign land.

Lindgrens NHL career began almost a decade ago with five straight wins in a Canadiens uniform.

Dobes NHL career began earlier this season with five straight wins in a Canadiens uniform.

The two of them have taken the hard way here, but the two of them have also earned the confidence of their teammates the hard way as well.

For Lindgren, it was leading an upstart Capitals team to an unexpected playoff berth last season.

For Dobes, it began in his very first NHL start, on the road, the first game out of the Christmas break this season against the Florida Panthers.

His Canadiens teammates were immediately sold.

He gets thrown in against the defending Stanley Cup champs, gets a shutout, Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle said Saturday.

I think you look at his first three or four games, they were against some of the top teams in the league, and he played well.

So I have all the confidence in the world in Dobes; he has a lot of confidence in himself, which you need as a young goalie coming into the league.

I think he believes that theres no moment too big for him.

I think he wants this moment, I think hes ready for anything thats thrown at him.

After beating the Panthers on the road, Dobes did the same at Colorado, at Washington, at Dallas and at home against the New York Rangers before losing in overtime to the New Jersey Devils, snapping the streak.

As Guhle mentioned, Dobes first four wins all came on the road against legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.

Advertisement More recently, Dobes allowed one goal in each of his last two starts, a 2-1 win in Nashville on April 6 and a 1-0 overtime loss in Toronto on April 12.

I think he knows what he did for us this year, Canadiens coach Martin St.

Louis said.

He had a really good start, then he had a tougher stretch as a young goalie.

But the last two games he played, when you think about it, we needed those points, he played in those games and he gave us good performances.

We know he can do that, its just to play well in front of him so hes not forced to steal a game.

But we know he can do that too.

Washingtons play on Friday took a nose dive from Games 1 and 2 in a few major ways, none more glaring than the overall effectiveness of the Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Anthony Beauvillier line.

The latter two assisted on a third-period goal by Ovechkin that tied the game 3-3, but there wasnt much positive beyond that.

With them on the ice, the Capitals were outshot 9-4, out-attempted 14-7 and out-chanced 7-3.

Montreal also controlled more than 80 percent of the expected goals.

Until then, Washington had won their minutes fairly decisively.

What changed for Game 3? Pretty simple: St.

Louis had the last change.

He used it to match the Caps top line with his own and those three Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky won the day.

(St.

Louis) is looking for a certain matchup, to try to get them out against Stromes line, Carbery said.

So they have to be able to handle those minutes, because inevitably with last change, hes going to be able to find certain situations to get them out against Strome and (Ovechkin).

So they have to be able to handle that when we dont get to pick the matchup.

Gaining the offensive zone, Strome said, was less of a problem than staying in it.

Advertisement We didnt have enough zone time, he said.

We were kind of getting the pucks in there and then kind of throwing them away and just not creating enough.

Obviously the (shot total is) indicative of that.

Carbery concurred, saying sloppy plays and bad decisions cost his team opportunities.

He also made a point to say, essentially, that their issues werent confined to the Canadiens end.

Just even getting to that point that youre talking about, of sustained pressure and getting in the offensive zone our top six didnt have a good night last night, Carbery said.

For them to get back ...

is going to be key (Sunday night).

Washingtons second line (Pierre-Luc Dubois between Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson) was similarly brutal; St.

Louis typically matched them up with Christian Dvoraks line and won the battle handily (10-3 in scoring chances, 17-6 in shot attempts).

The variable for Washington and its a positive one is that Carbery sounded increasingly optimistic about the status of Aliaksei Protas, who brought goal-scoring, high-end skating and substantive five-on-five play to Washingtons top six all season before a skate cut his foot on April 4.

Hes full-go in practice, so well just see (Sunday), Carbery said.

Everything looking good.

Hes out there taking contact and that, so well just see tomorrow.

We had a conversation with Capitals rookie forward Ryan Leonard prior to Game 3 that would seemingly apply to Canadiens rookie forward Ivan Demidov and his adjustment to the NHL.

Keep in mind, Demidov is coming from a much higher level of hockey, playing with SKA Saint Petersburg in the KHL, but Leonards experience still has some relevance here.

Honestly I didnt really start to feel comfortable and completely feel myself until probably the last two games of the regular season, where Im trusting myself more, Leonard said Friday morning.

I think last game was the first time I really trusted myself with the puck and shooting it more.

Advertisement Im definitely someone whos a shot-first player and I was definitely a little bit tense at the start not to mess up and look to take that shot where I can trust myself.

Leonards final two regular-season games came after he played seven games for the Capitals after leaving Boston College and signing his entry-level contract.

Game 3 on Friday was Demidovs fifth game since arriving in Montreal from Russia, the final two regular-season games and three playoff games.

In other words, Demidov might be nearing that zone where he begins trusting himself.

After his electric NHL debut against the Chicago Blackhawks, Demidov has not been nearly as visible, but that visibility has slowly been growing over the course of this series, beginning in the third period of Game 2 when he played on a line with Jake Evans and Alex Newhook.

I still think for him its obviously a huge jump right now, Evans said Friday morning.

I think every game hes going to start learning more and more.

Hes clearly a smart guy and understands the game, so I think every game hes going to start understanding things more and things are going to open up for him.

I dont think it matters whos really playing with him, its more just his games going to keep getting better and better.

Demidov was back on that line in Game 3, and through four periods in the series, the trio has controlled 68.18 percent of the shot attempts and 66.72 percent of the expected goals in just under 12 minutes of five-on-five ice time.

Its created circumstances for Demidov to have the puck on his stick more often, which is where his comfort should begin to grow.

But the most important development in that process was Patrik Laine being ruled out of Game 3 with an upper-body injury, allowing Demidov to be inserted on the right half wall of the Canadiens top power-play unit.

It changes the dynamics of the unit because Demidov is a left shot, and Laine is a right shot.

Cole Caufield was inserted into Laines usual spot at left circle Caufields preferred position on the power play and created a situation where left shots Demidov and Juraj Slafkovsky can sometimes alternate playing on that right half wall and on the goal line, which is where Demidov often played in the KHL.

Advertisement After the game, Slafkovsky was asked how he liked the new setup on the power play, and he immediately became uncomfortable because he didnt want to criticize the previous setup with Laine one of the top power-play scorers in the league with 15 goals in only 52 games in the regular season.

But he couldnt hide how much he liked being able to swap spots with Demidov and get a few reps in that right circle.

I like it, he said.

I really like it.

Ultimately, Demidov getting more puck touches on the power play with more space to operate could help fast-track his adjustment to playoff hockey, which could help him become the X-factor Carbery was somewhat concerned about prior to the series.

It has so much value, St.

Louis said.

When you have touches on the power play, space, it builds your confidence and I think it translates to your five-on-five game.

You saw last year we had Slaf on that half wall, and I think it was a big reason why he was able to gain some confidence and be able to relate that to his five-on-five play.

I think Demidov is built for being a half wall guy, and him getting his touches on the PP, I think its important for a young players confidence and hopefully that translates to five-on-five.

Demidov has yet to register a point in the playoffs.

He has one shot on goal on just two shot attempts at five-on-five.

He has not been a factor, let alone an X-factor.

But that might be on the verge of changing.

(Photo: Eric Bolte / Imagn Images).

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