It’s been over three decades since the Montreal Canadiens won their last Stanley Cup. And this time, too, their quest to lift the ultimate hockey prize won’t be easy. “I feel it’s the best team in the league,” Martin St. Louis, the Canadiens’ head coach, said about the team’s first-round opponents, the Washington Capitals, on Sunday. Considering that the Caps entered the playoffs with 111 points and have Alex Ovechkin among their ranks, Louis’s assessment isn’t inaccurate. However, the Habs fans believe their side only needs more time to take the fight to Alex.

The Russian sensation has already gotten things going with his first goal of the 2025 postseason. Just minutes ago, Ovechkin scored his 73rd career playoff goal to give the Caps the lead in Game 1 against the Canadiens. With that, the Washington captain became the 14th-highest goalscorer in playoff history. On the other hand, Montreal’s entire squad falls short against Alex in the same category. But the Habs clan believes that it doesn’t represent the entire picture.

B/R Open Ice hailed Alex Ovechkin’s latest feat with a post on X on April 21. “Ovi has more playoff goals in his career than the entire Canadiens roster combined (including the one he just scored),” the post notes, as it highlights that the entire Montreal locker room has a total of 61 playoff goals to its name, 12 fewer than the Caps’ forward.

Scoring past Montreal’s Samuel Montembeault in the first period, Ovechkin started things off strong. His latest goal (73rd in 152 games) seats Alex in the same spot as Dino Ciccarelli. But was it all that surprising that the Caps’ main man scored in his first playoff game this year? Just weeks ago, Ovie became the NHL’s all-time leading goalscorer by overtaking Wayne Gretzky’s 894 career goals. With 44 goals to his name in the 2024-25 regular season, Alex now boasts 897 career goals to his name. That being said, is the comparison fair? After all, the Canadiens have made it to the playoffs this year for the first time since 2021, while the Russian has made it to the postseason 16 times in his storied 20-year NHL career. In the last five years only, the Capitals have had a near-perfect record of making the postseason four times.

Moreover, with an average age of 26 years, the Canadiens are the youngest team to make the playoffs this year. Naturally, bearing in mind that Alex Ovechkin is now 39, Montreal fans believe that B/R Open Ice’s boast isn’t based on all the information. “Are you stupid,” one Habs fan asked with morbid curiosity. Others had similar things to ponder.

Habs fans aren’t ready to accept Alex Ovechkin’s superiority

Another Montreal loyalist shared B/R Open Ice’s post with a caption that once again stated the obvious: “Breaking: 40 year old superstar has more playoff goals than a team with an average age of 26,” sneering at how the social media update doesn’t do justice to St. Louis’s boys. While the Canadiens’ Lane Hutson has made quite a ripple in the regular season by hauling 66 points, it remains to be seen if he can make it count in the playoffs as well. However, Hutson is also only 21 and will have a lot of time to establish himself as an elite player.

Reminding that, one fan had another sarcastic comment to underscore just how long the Russian has been around. “the habs are a young team where over half the players have never been in the playoffs before while ovechkin was there to witness the renaissance,” reads the jibe. “a man in his 60s on the brink of retirement has more goals than a team of early 20’s players i’m absolutely shocked thanks for telling me,” joked another, calling B/R Open Ice’s take as shocking news.

Montreal’s Patrick Laine had previously mentioned that Alex was one of his childhood heroes, and yet dismissed being under pressure to face the former in the first round of the postseason. With most of the Canadiens roster still in their 20s, it’s not easy to comprehend that they are Ovechkin fans themselves. Naturally, fans aren’t amused by how the recent X post doesn’t do justice by comparing the league’s all-time highest scorer against a team so young. And it seems like even some Caps fans are irked by parallels. “As a caps fan why is this a headline, this is very obvious information,” said one Washington loyalist. Do you also think such takes are uncalled for? Tell us your thoughts on the Ovechkin vs Canadiens comparison in a comment!