The Montreal Canadiens were knocked out of the NHL playoffs after they slumped to a 4-1 defeat to the Washington Capitals.
Washington advanced to the next round after winning the first-round series in five games. They will take on the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round. Their series win garnered plenty of appreciation across the board, including from NHL analysts.
NHL Analysts Laud Canadiens’ Playoff Performance Despite Elimination
The Canadiens, who advanced to the postseason by barely managing to hang on to the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, drew praise from pundits for their performance.
NHL insider Mark Parrish lauded the team and Habs coach Martin St. Louis in particular during a postgame analysis on the NHL Network.
“They played right until that final buzzer went. And you can see that it would have been easy for that team, when Washington went up 3-0 end of the second period,” Parrish said.
“Those are the gut punches right there. That’s also gut check time when you take those punches and Marty St. Louis gotta be so proud of these young guys, especially if you look at Slafkovsky and Hudson, these young guys that are getting an opportunity to play in these big time moments against big time teams.”
"Marty St. Louis has got to be so proud of these young guys." – @MarkDParrish
A great year for the @CanadiensMTL came to a tough end last night. @TonyLuftman | #GoHabsGo | #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/YlKjY2nvMn
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) May 1, 2025
The Habs emerged as surprise playoff contenders late in the season, going on a run of 15-5-6 in the final stretch and holding off the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and other teams in the race for the final playoff spot. A dip in their late form meant that the team didn’t qualify for the playoffs until the final game of the regular season.
But the Canadiens’ fairytale run this season came to an end. They went 3-0 down thanks to goals from Capitals star left wing Alex Ovechkin, Jakob Chychrun, and Tom Wilson, before Emil Heineman pulled one goal back. Brandon Duhaime scored the Capitals’ fourth goal into an empty net in the third period.
“I feel like [people watching] saw a hard-working team that doesn’t give up,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said via NHL.com.
“We had a good push in the third. And I think when teams give us a little bit of space, we are very dangerous. If we introduced ourselves to the rest of the League through these playoffs — especially being the youngest team — we can walk out of there with our head held high.”
The Canadiens will take away a lot of positives from their season and look to kick their rebuild into high gear. The Capitals will now turn to the Canes and look to win only their second playoff series since lifting the Stanley Cup in 2018.