Carbery credits Habs' Game 1 effort: 'This team will not go quietly'

The fight of the underdog Montreal Canadiens left an impression on Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery following a tightly contested Game 1 in their opening-round series.

The Capitals squeaked by the East's lowest seed with an overtime win after surrendering a two-goal lead in the third period. Carbery expects the remainder of the series to be just as close.

"One thing I've learned about their coach, their team: This team will not go quietly into the night," Carbery said, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels.

Carbery added, "We know we have our hands full, and we're going to see a better first period from them in Game 2. I guarantee it. And that's on us to counter that and know that that's coming and not drop our guard."

The Canadiens outshot the Capitals 35-32, but Washington owned a distinct advantage in expected goals at five-on-five (57.06%), according to Natural Stat Trick.

Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis liked what he saw out of his group after a shaky start.

"I felt that we caught up to it and we started executing more," he said. "We spent more time in the O-zone, and we got better as the game went on. ... In terms of what we tried to do out there tonight, I felt it was a pretty good first game. There was a lot of good stuff. Unfortunately, you don't win, but we got some really good stuff from this game."

The Canadiens were the final team to qualify for the playoffs, grabbing the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 91 points. The postseason berth is their first since 2021, and it came on the strength of a 15-5-6 run after the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. The Capitals were 15-11-1 over that span.

Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday in D.C.