Ovechkin scores as the Capitals eliminate the Canadiens in 5, advance to play the Hurricanes

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time in seven years, the Washington Capitals were on the smiling end of a playoff handshake line. And they got to enjoy it at home for the first time in a decade.

Alex Ovechkin scored on a laser of a shot off a faceoff, Logan Thompson made some spectacular saves among his 28 and the Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 in Game 5 of their first-round series Wednesday night to advance in the NHL playoffs.

It’s the Capitals’ first series win since capturing the Stanley Cup in 2018, and they clinched at home for the first time since 2015. They face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round with a spot in the Eastern Conference final at stake.

“We won a series and we’re going to enjoy it tonight and tomorrow it’s a new day and it’s going to be a new series,” Ovechkin said. "We have to be smart and we have to move on and game by game.”

Ovechkin led the way with his power-play goal 11 minutes in, setting off chants of “Ovi! Ovi!” from the juiced up crowd. Pierre-Luc Dubois delivered a perfect pass to Jakob Chychrun, who beat Jakub Dobes just over two minutes later. Tom Wilson provided a valuable insurance goal on the power play late in the second period.

Fans expressed their appreciation for Thompson with chants of “LT! LT!” when he turned aside Kaiden Guhle on a three-on-one rush and with under two minutes left when he flashed his glove to rob Nick Suzuki with Dobes pulled for an extra attacker. Brandon Duhaime sealed it with an empty-netter with 25.6 seconds left.

Much like the final minutes of Game 2, Thompson was at his best at the start when the Canadiens came out with the desperation expected from a team facing elimination and then in the third when they pressed and tilted the ice toward him.

“He’s a rock," center Dylan Strome said. "He was great. I thought he did what he did all year. He kept us in it, made the big saves when we needed it.”

The Capitals asserted their dominance in the East’s 1 versus 8 series, a year after getting swept as the underdog in it by the New York Rangers. Banged up and without top goalie Sam Montembeault and scoring winger Patrik Laine, the Canadiens got a goal from Emil Heineman but ultimately ran out of steam after going on a tear down the stretch in the regular season to be the last team to qualify for the playoffs.

“We had a good push in the third, and I think when teams gave us a little bit of space, we were very dangerous,” coach Martin St. Louis said. “If we introduced ourself to the rest of the league in this playoffs, especially being the youngest team and stuff, I think we can walk out of here with our head held high.”

Carolina and Washington meet in the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery, left, shakes hands with Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis, right, after Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) greets Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki (14) after Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals right wing Brandon Duhaime (22) celebrates his empty net goal with left wing Pierre-Luc Dubois (80) and Connor McMichael, right, in the third period of Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson (48) greets Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) after Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson (48) celebrates with center Dylan Strome (17) and Ryan Leonard at the end of Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson (48) shakes hands with Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) after Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Montreal Canadiens center Christian Dvorak (28) skates with the puck against Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson (48) in the second period of Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun (6) celebrates his goal past Montreal Canadiens right wing Cole Caufield (13) in the first period of Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals right wing Brandon Duhaime (22) celebrates his empty net goal in the third period of Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) warms up before Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Montreal Canadiens right wing Cole Caufield (13) skates with the puck against Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson (43) in the second period of Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals right wing Tom Wilson (43) celebrates his goal in the second period of Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson (48) and Montreal Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher (11) look for the puck in the second period of Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) skates with the puck past Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson (48) in the first period of Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8), right, celebrates his goal with defenseman John Carlson, left, in the first period of Game 5 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens, Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as an ongoing crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths.

Trump said late Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports mount of increasing deaths and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night.

Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has accurately reported on past unrest in Iran, gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran cross checking information. It said at least 544 people have been killed so far, including 496 protesters and 48 people from the security forces. It said more than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

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China says it opposes the use of force in international relations and expressed hope the Iranian government and people are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing “always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned “in the strongest terms the violence that the leadership in Iran is directing against its own people.”

He said it was a sign of weakness rather than strength, adding that “this violence must end.”

Merz said during a visit to India that the demonstrators deserve “the greatest respect” for the courage with which “they are resisting the disproportional, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.”

He said: “I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population rather than threatening it.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday suggested that a channel remained open with the United States.

Esmail Baghaei made the comment during a news conference in Tehran.

“It is open and whenever needed, through that channel, the necessary messages are exchanged,” he said.

However, Baghaei said such talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”

The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on Monday began calling out Iranian celebrities and leaders on social media who have expressed support for the protests over the past two weeks, especially before the internet was shut down.

The threat comes as writers and other cultural leaders were targeted even before protests. The news agency highlighted specific celebrities who posted in solidarity with the protesters and scolded them for not condemning vandalism and destruction to public property or the deaths of security forces killed during clashes. The news agency accused those celebrities and leaders of inciting riots by expressing their support.

Canada said it “stands with the brave people of Iran” in a statement on social media that strongly condemned the killing of protesters during widespread protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks.

“The Iranian regime must halt its horrific repression and intimidation and respect the human rights of its citizens,” Canada’s government said on Monday.

Iran’s foreign minister claimed Monday that “the situation has come under total control” after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country.

Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim.

Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.

Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.

Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after over 500 have been reported killed by activists -- the vast majority coming from demonstrators.

Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.

Iran has summoned the British ambassador over protesters twice taking down the Iranian flag at their embassy in London.

Iranian state television also said Monday that it complained about “certain terrorist organization that, under the guise of media, spread lies and promote violence and terrorism.” The United Kingdom is home to offices of the BBC’s Persian service and Iran International, both which long have been targeted by Iran.

A huge crowd of demonstrators, some waving the flag of Iran, gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian government. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by early evening only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.

Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.

Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with the the demonstrators, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver. A police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt.

The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.

Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)