Canadiens' Inexperience Proves To Be Downfall

The Montreal Canadiens took a massive step forward this season, as they rode a second-half surge to make their first playoff appearance since 2021.

Once they got there, however, it became abundantly clear that they still have a way to go.

The Canadiens' brief playoff run came to an end with their 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals in Game 5 on Wednesday night. Montreal gave a strong effort, but simply wasn't a match for the Eastern Conference's top seed in Washington.

It's very apparent that the sheer difference in experience played a factor in this series. Montreal is still a very young team, and for many of their key players - including 21-year-old Lane Hutson, 21-year-old Juraj Slafkovsky, 19-year-old Ivan Demidov and 23-year-old Kaiden Guhle - this was their first taste of playoff hockey.

Washington, meanwhile, is a ream full of seasoned veterans. Alex Ovechkin leads the way at 39 years old, but there's also 35-year-old John Carlson, 31-year-old Tom Wilson and more. Despite the Capitals not winning a series since 2018 before this one, they know exactly what it's like to play under the bright lights, and they were the far more composed team as a result.

It also didn't help that starting goaltender Montembeault suffered an injury halfway through Game 3 and did not return for the rest of the series. Montembeault broke out this season with a .901 save percentage and a career-low 2.82 goals against average, and was still holding his own against one of the league's highest-scoring teams. With him sidelined, though, the Canadiens had to turn to 23-year-old Jakub Dobes, who filled in admirably, but the change was apparent.

Even considering all that, the Canadiens still had chances to make this a far closer series. If they had managed to pull out Game 1 in overtime or held onto a third-period lead in Game 4, maybe the conversation surrounding this series is entirely different. Alas, they didn't, and it's not.

While they would've loved to have gone on a deeper run, the Canadiens still have a lot to look forward to in the future. Not only do they have a boat load of young talent, as mentioned previously, but they have nine picks in the first four rounds of this year's draft. They can use those picks to add to their already impressive array of young players, or they could even trade it for more immediate help.

Either way, Martin St. Louis' team is on the right track.