St. Louis won the Stanley Cup in 2004 as a Hall of Fame-bound forward with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He has fond memories of his boyhood, watching the Canadiens bring the city to life in the playoffs; it was the only time he was allowed to stay up past his usual bedtime to watch televised games.

When Alex Ovechkin hosted Washington Capitals teammates for his 39th birthday dinner in September, he made it clear his focus for the next several months was on Stanley, not Wayne Gretzky.“He was talking not about the record,

If the answer is “no,” that’s OK. Montreal nearly backed its way into the playoffs and the Washington Capitals hit a rough patch of their own. Still, this matchup brings a whole bunch of juice — the most prolific goal scorer of all time, the East’s top team and the return of postseason hockey to one of the sport’s true epicenters.