Capitals goalie Logan Thompson to be game-time decision; Canadiens netminder Sam Montembeault day to day

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MONTREAL — The Washington Capitals might have their starting goaltender on Sunday evening. The Montreal Canadiens will not.

Logan Thompson, in something of a surprise move, was in the starter’s net at the Capitals’ morning skate and will be a game-time decision, Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said Sunday.

Thompson, like his counterpart, Samuel Montembeault, left Game 3 Friday due to injury. Thompson’s exit was the more dramatic of the two; he took an accidental cross-check to the face from teammate Dylan Strome, fell awkwardly and needed help to make it off the ice.

Thompson, who missed the final seven games of the regular season with an upper-body injury, was one of the best goalies in the NHL for the first chunk of the season and had regained that form in Games 1 and 2 of the first-round Stanley Cup playoff series, stopping 58 of the 61 shots he faced.

“He’s a big part of our team. He’s been great in the series,” Carbery said. “(I was) happy to see it wasn’t anything significant that would keep him out for an extended period of time.

“We’ll see how (Thompson and winger Aliaksei Protas) are this afternoon, and then we’ll know if they’re good to go.”

Thompson’s injury came as Juraj Slafkovský scored to put Montreal up 5-3 with 6:37 left in the third period. The Canadiens ultimately won 6-3, cutting Washington’s series lead to 2-1.

If Thompson can’t go, Charlie Lindgren will get the start for Washington. Both goalies left the ice simultaneously at the morning skate — a seemingly slick bit of gamesmanship, given that the starter typically is the first to the locker room.

“Well-coached,” Carbery said when told of the move during his post-skate media session.

Protas, once again, was a full participant — another bit of good news for a top six that struggled mightily in Game 3, when Montreal had last change and could more easily dictate matchups.

Protas scored 30 goals in the regular season and also added size, skating ability and steady five-on-five play to the mix. He saw significant time with Strome and Ovechkin on Washington’s top line and also with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson. The question, whenever he returns, is where he fits and which player exits the lineup to accommodate him. He hasn’t played since a skate cut his foot on April 4.

“We’ve been calling him our MVP all year,” Wilson said. “He’s just a steady player out there. He makes good plays and has great poise with the puck. Obviously, a big body, hard to control down low. So he’s the type of guy you can use in the playoffs.”

Anthony Beauvillier is currently the right wing on the Strome-Ovechkin line; Dubois and Wilson played, as they most frequently do, with Connor McMichael. Both lines were brutal in Game 3.

“There’s some things that go into it from a line combination standpoint — chemistry, who (Protas has) played with this year, where do guys fit, hands, different roles,” Carbery said. “So there’s a lot that goes into making the decision on who comes out of the lineup.

Montembeault, meanwhile, left the game during a TV timeout in the second period. Backup Jakub Dobeš stopped seven of eight shots down the stretch and on Sunday morning worked out in the starter’s net. Montembeault was not on the ice and is day to day, coach Martin St. Louis said.

Cayden Primeau was recalled from AHL Laval to back up Dobeš, who began his NHL career earlier this season with five straight wins and finished with a .909 save percentage in 16 appearances, including two one-goal games to finish the regular season.

Now, he’s a rookie trying to enter a playoff series mid-stream.

“I don’t think he’s alone in that boat; a lot of his teammates are going through the same thing,” St. Louis said. “We’re a young team. He just needs to concentrate on what he can control. I know the crowd, the level of hockey he needs to bring because of the playoffs is another level.

“But for me, it’s just to trust your training, everything you’ve done. The way he finished the year with us, trust that. His last two starts were excellent for us at the end of the season, and it helped us. I think Dobeš has confidence.”

Primeau began the season as Montembeault’s backup and struggled mightily, getting replaced by Dobeš in December. Primeau went about becoming one of the top goalies in the AHL with the Rocket, helping the Canadiens’ minor-league affiliate finish the season with the best record in the league.

Primeau was feeling a bit under the weather Friday, so he watched Game 3 at a teammate’s house on television.

“It went to commercial break, and when it came back, Sam was going down the tunnel and Doby was going in,” Primeau said Sunday morning. “It wasn’t really anything I had noticed from Sam, so it was weird. Hoping he’s doing well. I was just excited when I got the call. Just being here and seeing that atmosphere was really cool.”

Primeau said he received a call shortly after Montembeault left the game to get down to the Bell Centre with his equipment, and he arrived in time for the third period, driving “faster than I’d like to admit.” He never dressed, however, and it appears he was not allowed to replace the emergency goalie at that point in the game in any case.

Still, he was able to experience the atmosphere at the Bell Centre ahead of backing up Dobeš on Sunday.

“Being able to take it in from the bench is something that’s going to be a little different,” Primeau said. “Just excited.”

(Photo of Matt Roy (center) and Cole Caufield (right) battling in front of Logan Thompson: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)

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