The Canadiens are on the decline and need to get back to winning ways tonight.
The Habs welcomed the Capitals to the Bell Center for the occasion. It was the first meeting between the two teams since the first-round series this spring, which Washington won in five games.
Here is the composition of both teams:
Tonight's lineup
Tonight composition#GoHabsGo | @mtlgazette pic.twitter.com/SS2Z9CZfOL
– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) November 20, 2025
Lineas#CapsHubs | @JackDaniels_US pic.twitter.com/miecyxdIUr
– Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 20, 2025
The visitors, who played at home against the Oilers the previous day, quickly opened the scoring with just a minute left thanks to Alex Ovechkin, who took advantage of the power play to score his eighth goal of the season, his 905th career goal.
9°0°5° pic.twitter.com/Uov7tz22ZP
– Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 21, 2025
It was on the power play that the Habs tied the game before the end of the first frame when Brendan Gallagher scored his first goal of the season on a play that required a video replay. Noah Dobson and Ivan Demidov scored assists in the game.
Oh yes there is
Like Brendan Gallagher, the goal is as good as ever. see #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/jaNqR4r6dD
– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) November 21, 2025
1-1 after 20 minutes of play.
Once again with the man advantage, the Caps retook the lead in the second period thanks to a goal from Ethen Franck, his first of the season and something Samuel Montembeault would surely like to see again.
How about Frankie's first performance of the season?!#ALL CAPITAL | @aerovironment pic.twitter.com/oGm5mr266f
– Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 21, 2025
It was then Frank's turn to score his second goal after just 1:38 minutes, which seemed to be the end of Monty's night's work as he had to make way for Jakub Dobes.
How about Frankie's second match of the season?!?! https://t.co/9xcb0fG3M6 pic.twitter.com/4fo02yTEvY
– Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 21, 2025
The goalkeeping change seemed to have the Habs back into form as Joe Veleno also scored his first goal of the campaign with help from Mike Matheson and Gallagher.
Hometown boy scores his FIRST goal for the club
Hometown Boy FIRST as Home#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/lOuHOfNLQB
– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) November 21, 2025
Unfortunately, Jakob Chychrun restored the visitors' two-goal lead by thwarting Dobes, who was already looking better, with a pass from John Carlson.
BUUUUM pic.twitter.com/0JdyQGJ4Bn
– Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 21, 2025
However, less than 30 seconds later Nick Suzuki took advantage of the opportunity to score his fifth goal of the campaign. Alex Carrier and Zachary Bolduc had assists for the captain's goal.
Honorable mention for this favorable deviation
An honorary Quebecer being helped by a Quebecer being helped by another Quebecer#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/rLZlZBXF00
– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) November 21, 2025
The Capitals then scored their sixth goal of the period on Sonny Milano's second goal of the season, with help from Frank, his third of the game, and Rasmus Sandin.
BUUUUM pic.twitter.com/0JdyQGJ4Bn
– Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 21, 2025
5-3 Capitals after two periods.
It was Matheson who revived the Habs' prospects in Game 3, stopping Charlie Lindgren from cutting the deficit to one goal.
Hang in there
Chipping away#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/yP3TxgzdZQ
– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) November 21, 2025
Unfortunately, despite the team's best efforts and some good moments, the Habs were unable to achieve their goal.
Instead, it was Ovechkin who nailed the home team's coffin with his second goal of the game, his third point.
10th all-time in points
With this goal, Alex Ovechkin passed Joe Sakic on the NHL scoring list.
pic.twitter.com/tTPCziHACP
– Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) November 21, 2025
The number 8 then completed his hat-trick into an empty net.
10th all-time in points
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With this goal, Alex Ovechkin passed Joe Sakic on the NHL scoring list.
pic.twitter.com/tTPCziHACP
– Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) November 21, 2025
And finally, to add insult to injury, Sonny Milano scored the eighth goal for the Caps, the fourth missed by Dobs.
Final score: loss 8-4.
Although Montreal played a good game, the goaltenders had another rough night, failing to make key saves and giving their team no chance to win.
The Canadian's next game is Saturday at 7 p.m. when the Maple Leafs visit the Bell Center.
Extension
The Habs remain mired with just one win in eight games and continue to have problems in front of the net. Meanwhile, Jacob Fowler is performing well in Laval, and perhaps the young goalie will be ready to make the leap to start in the NHL.
Yes, Fowler may have to be remembered too quickly, but the Habs really need a shake-up right now. And if the experiment doesn't succeed, we can always send Fowler back to Rocket for development.






