In hockey — just as in life — sometimes the glass is half-full. And sometimes, it’s half-empty.
The Washington Capitals have proven to be the Canadiens’ kryptonite, dating back to last season’s opening round of the playoffs. Montreal made the postseason for the first time in four years. Glass half-full. But the Canadiens fell to the superior, bigger and more-experienced Capitals in five games. Glass half-empty.
Fast forward to last Nov. 20, when Washington doubled the Canadiens 8-4 at the Bell Centre. It was Montreal’s fifth consecutive defeat. Glass half-empty. But the Canadiens started the season by going 10-3-2. Glass half-full.
Since that defeat, the Canadiens went 16-7-3. Glass half-full.
And that brings us to Tuesday night, when the teams met for the second time this season at Capital One Arena. The Canadiens were coming off a 6-3 win at home over Vancouver 24 hours earlier and reportedly didn’t make it to their Washington hotel rooms until 3 a.m.
The Canadiens, arguably, were the better team on this night and carried a 2-0 lead into the third period. Glass half-full. But Montreal ultimately fell victim to fatigue more than anything else, losing 3-2 in overtime, thanks to Connor McMichael’s winning goal. Montreal was less than two minutes from a regulation victory, and 39 seconds away from sending the game to a shootout.
Glass half-full? Glass half-empty? An argument could be made for both.
Glass half-full: The Canadiens held Washington captain Alex Ovechkin without a goal or assist, ending his four-game point streak, during which he had five goals and an assist. Ovechkin, with a mere 917 regular-season goals — the most in NHL history — produced the 33rd hat trick of his illustrious career when the teams met in November.
Glass half-full: We don’t care that Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault lost for the first time in four starts since his conditioning stint at AHL Laval. Montembeault is back. Period. He kept Washington at bay for more than 45 minutes. The two third-period goals he surrendered — both by Ethen Frank — came off deflections. Montembeault was peppered with 15 shots in the period and faced another 10, incredibly, in overtime, mostly thanks to a Nick Suzuki’s tripping penalty. Overall he stopped 39 of 42 shots. His save percentage was .929. He looked calm and in control. He was always in position. End of debate. End of criticizing the guy.
Reprieve from the governor: With defenceman Kaiden Guhle a late scratch — let’s call it a maintenance day after he recently returned from a long injury — Jayden Struble got to play after being a healthy scratch the last two games.
Glass half-empty: In the game’s opening minute, Alexandre Texier received a pass from Suzuki, only to hit the crossbar. Seconds later, Juraj Slafkovsky hit the post.
Glass half-full: Josh Anderson returned from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for six games. He opened the scoring with a short-handed goal slightly more than eight minutes into the affair. It was Anderson’s 10th goal this season — second while short-handed.
Glass half-empty: Washington has allowed six short-handed goals this season.
Glass half-full: Texier blocked three first-period shots.
Glass half-empty: Texier, with four goals and eight points in his last four games, was robbed again by Logan Thompson in the opening minute of the second period.
Glass half-full: Anderson’s return meant Owen Beck was a healthy scratch. An argument could be made that the much younger Beck should have played while giving Brendan Gallagher, 33, a much-needed rest. That was until Gallagher gave the Canadiens a two-goal lead in the second period. It was only his second goal in his last 17 games; his fourth on the season.
Pass of the night: Danault to Gallagher.
Best assist of the night: Zachary Bolduc kicked the puck to Danault to start the play. It was Bolduc’s first point in 10 games.
This is why they call it a team: After Dylan McIlrath, 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, took Struble into the boards in the second period — temporarily shaking up the Montreal rearguard — Arber Xhekaj decided to try and settle the score and the two players fought. We don’t care that Xhekaj received an instigating minor, major and 10-minute misconduct. Glass half-full.
Montreal Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj (72) fights with Washington Capitals defenceman Dylan McIlrath, left, during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington.
Glass half-empty: The Canadiens had a two-man advantage for 64 seconds that carried over into the third period, yet failed to score. Montreal went 0-for-4 on the power play.
Great moments in officiating: While Washington was two men short, John Carlson sent Slafkovsky’s stick airborne. It should have been an interference penalty. Under different circumstances, it would have been.
Our random and meaningless thought of the night: Every time we heard the name Aliaksei Protas, all we could think about was Donald Trump — a.k.a. POTUS.
News you need: Frank now has four goals in his last three games after being held to three in his previous 22.
Next time, decline the penalty: Washington went 0-for-5 on the power play.
Quick stats: Carrier blocked five shots, including one on Ovechkin in overtime. Lane Hutson had four blocks while Noah Dobson had three. Slafkovsky, Danault, Bolduc and Cole Caufield each had three shots. Bolduc also had four hits and should use his body more often. Struble, Joe Veleno and Samuel Blais all had three hits; Blais despite playing only 6:18. The Canadiens won 54.2 per cent of their faceoffs and outhit Washington 21-18. Would this be a good time to remind everyone Tom Wilson is injured?
They said it: “They find ways to win against us,” Anderson told the media in Washington. “I thought we played a good half a game. They created momentum in the second half of the game and kind of took it to us there. Obviously (Montembeault) played a really good game for us. We’ve been pretty good in overtime this year. It’s a tough one.”
“They brought a lot of pressure,” head coach Martin St. Louis said in Washington. “They were playing fast. We lacked little details on execution. They made us pay. It’s unfortunate we couldn’t put the puck in the net (on the two-man advantage). Usually 5-on-3, it’s rare that if you don’t score you win the game. We just didn’t score.”
“I don’t think we ran out of gas in the third period,” Bolduc said. “I think we didn’t manage the puck well. That gave them momentum. That’s what made the difference at the end.”
“Give credit to them,” Veleno said. “They were able to create a lot of momentum. It starts with managing the puck. We were up 2-0. You can’t turn pucks over. That’s what they were looking for. When it’s 2-0 we can’t give them easy offence.”
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