The 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are rolling and two more series get started on Monday evening. Out in the Eastern Conference, the top-seed Washington Capitals take on the wild-card Montreal Canadiens in a best-of-seven format that showcases one of the league’s highest-scoring offenses against a team with some exciting young pieces who make their first playoff appearances tonight.
Here’s a detailed look at Capitals vs. Canadiens, including a series preview, betting odds, and a top pick on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Capitals vs. Canadiens first-round series preview
Washington Capitals
The Capitals spent the majority of the year in the headlines thanks to franchise icon Alexander Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s career scoring record. The 39-year old finally completed the Gr8 Chase by tallying his 895th career goal in the final weeks of the regular season — a shining moment for the Capitals’ 51-win, 111-point campaign. While Ovechkin gets the hype, and deservedly so, it’s almost undersold that the team boasts the Eastern Conference’s highest point total and best record.
With that said, the Capitals are like a real threat heading into this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Their goal differential of 56 leaves them tied for the third-best margin across the league and can outshoot nearly anyone. Washington’s offense is formidable with an outstanding 3.49 goals per game, the NHL’s second-best mark. Ovechkin’s 44-goal campaign is impressive, but the Capitals also possess a pair of 30-goal guys in Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson, while leading point scorer Dylan Strome comes in just shy with 29 goals of his own.
The Capitals’ defense also ranks just inside the top-10 in defense with 2.79 goals allowed per game. They’ve likely got their top goaltender back, too. Logan Thompson won 30 games for Washington with a .910 save percentage but hasn’t played since April 2. He now appears to be on the verge of a return, as NHL.com reports Thompson was the first goalie on the ice for Monday’s morning skate. If the 28-year-old is back in net, he’s a major boon for the Capitals and should give his team the edge in the goalie duel.
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens’ playoff berth came down to the wire as they secured their postseason spot on the second-to-last day of the regular season. The Habs’ 91 points isn’t the most impressive, but given the fact most people wrote them off prior to the season, they’re a fun wild card team and might steal a game or two during the course of this series.
Montreal is the youngest team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and had their share of bumps and bruises over the course of the regular season. Their overall team statistics aren’t much to write home about — 17th in goals per game, 22nd in goals allowed per game, 13th in face-off win percentage — the Canadiens are feisty enough to make things interesting.
Nick Suzuki paced the team with a career-best 89 points, while Cole Caufield finished second on the squad with a career-high 70 (on 37 goals, at that). Interestingly enough, a rookie defenseman ranks third in points production for the Habs as Lane Huston notched 66 points of his own with a gnarly 60 assists, all while logging the second-most TOI on the team. The team lacks some the higher-level depth of their opponent, though.
Keys to the Series
The Capitals’ star power certainly gives them the upper hand in this series. They’ve got a handful of fearsome options on offense aside from Ovechkin, while the Habs just don’t roster the same selection of high-end scoring talent. That lack of star power will likely be the killer from the get-go in this series.
The lack of playoff experience for some of the Canadiens’ younger contributors certainly plays a role, too, though they do still have a handful of guys from their 2021 Stanley Cup Finals appearance. Still, the team hasn’t sniffed the playoffs since that season, so it may take a bit for them to settle back in under the high-stakes spotlight.
On the other hand, the Capitals bring much more playoff experience to the table but seem to crumble under pressure more often than not — they haven’t made it out of the first round since their 2018 Cup run. Against a lower-level opponent, one would think Washington can finally break the trend and advance to the semis. Hockey does hockey things, though, so you never know.
Capitals vs. Canadiens first-round series odds, pick
The Capitals are heavily favored to win this opening-round series at -320 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. On the other side of the coin, the Canadiens are +250 underdogs to pull off a shocking upset and bounce Washington from what might become a Stanley Cup run.
The public betting splits on DraftKings Sportsbook show a couple of notable trends. First of all, 76% of bets placed on the series favor the Capitals to win compared to just 24% on the Canadiens’ side. However, here’s where things get interesting. Despite far fewer bets going to Montreal, the majority of the handle is on the team to win the series — 54% of the money is on the Canadiens. From the looks of it, there’s some high-value wagers out there for the Habs to capture some playoff magic.
Starting the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a massive upset is the definition of fun, but betting against this Capitals team over the course of this series just doesn’t feel right. If bettors want to fade them next round, that’s one thing, but Washington looks like a comfortable series winner here.
