Martin St. Louis wanted a victory.
It didn’t happen Monday night, but the way his young group rallied after a difficult start gave the Montreal bench boss reason to think a win might not be far away.
The underdog Canadiens showed they’re ready for a fight despite losing Game 1 of their first-round playoff series with the Washington Capitals 3-2 in overtime.
“We were probably going to have to weather the storm and really feel what that feels like — the pressure, the physicality, the pace of the game,” St. Louis said after many of his players tasted playoff action for the first time.
“There was a lot of good stuff. Unfortunately you don’t win, but we got some really good stuff from this game.”
Montreal — the youngest team in the post-season and last to clinch a spot — came back from a 2-0 deficit to force overtime.
The valiant effort fell just short against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals.
Ovechkin scored twice, including the first playoff overtime winner of his career for the top-seeded Capitals at Capital One Arena.
The Great Eight also led the charge with a team-leading seven hits a few weeks after breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record.
“He’s been doing that his whole career,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “Physically he was trying to throw the body around and lead that way, too.”
Ovechkin and Anthony Beauvillier — the other goal scorer — set the tone early with two bone-crunching checks 20 seconds into the night. The physical intimidation didn’t stop there.
Washington totalled 20 hits in the first period — including seven in the opening four minutes — and mixed it up after each whistle, overwhelming the inexperienced Canadiens.
“They’re amped up, fans are screaming after every hit. Gives them energy,” Suzuki said. “We didn’t really bring our A game early. The pressure was kind of getting to us.”
After a dramatic and sometimes nail-biting final few games of the season, Montreal Canadiens fans can now get excited for the playoffs, joining Montreal Victoire fans and marking the first time two professional hockey teams in the city have qualified for the playoffs at the…
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