The Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens faced each other this postseason for the first time in over a decade, but that lack of recent playoff history didn\u2019t keep the series from getting heated.<\/p>\n
Rasmus Sandin reflected on the matchup last week for the 32 Thoughts podcast<\/a> as part of the European NHL Player Media Tour in Milan, Italy. When Elliotte Friedman remarked that \u201cit looked like those two teams hated each other,\u201d Sandin didn\u2019t disagree.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, that\u2019s fair,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was as a fun series to play. Montreal, they were really good at the end of the regular season, first, so they came in with a lot of confidence. We knew what we were all about, too. I think we all knew that we were a good team, even though a lot of guys on the outside did not think we were that good.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then obviously, Game 3, when they beat us in Montreal, it was kind of a wakeup call for us a little bit, too. Game 4, and Tom (Wilson) makes that big hit before we score a goal, win that game, we kind of knew. I think that sparked a little bit, too, where a little bit of the hate came from.\u201d<\/p>\n Sandin has history of his own with the Habs \u2014 before joining the Capitals in 2023, he spent part of four seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, one of Montreal\u2019s biggest rivals. He even had experience playing the team in the first round from when the Canadiens eliminated the Leafs in the 2020-21 season.<\/p>\n Though Sandin pointed to Game 4 as a turning point in the 2025 series, tensions had already boiled over in dramatic fashion in Game 3. Tom Wilson and Montreal forward Josh Anderson got into a viral bench brawl<\/a> at the end of the second period, with Wilson later taunting Juraj Slafkovsky with a mock crybaby face<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n