The Montreal Canadiens are now outside looking in to the playoffs race, thanks to a five-game losing streak. For Martin St-Louis’ men to even have a chance to make the Spring dance, they must return to their winning ways now, but it could be challenging. The Habs have only 10 games left on their schedule, and their next two games will be against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers.

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Despite being without Matthew Tkachuk because of an injury and Aaron Ekblad because of a suspension, the Canadiens are marching on. They have a 6-4-0 record in their last 10 games and have won their previous two. However, the Canadiens have won the first two matchups with Florida this season.

The 4-0 win at the end of December was a turning point in the Canadiens’ season. It marked Jakub Dobes’ fulgurant start in the league, but he has lost some of his shine since then. He’s dropped his last three starts and expects to see Samuel Montembeault for most games, if not all, as long as the Habs are in the mix. As for the 3-1 victory in mid-March, it put an end to a losing streak and was a springboard for a dominant win over the Ottawa Senators.

The stakes are even higher now, and even if the Habs had a day off on Saturday, it’s easy to know Montembeault will be in goal on Sunday. He has a 2-4-1 record in eight games against Florida, with a 4.21 goals-against average and a .886 save percentage. Dobes played them once and was flawless, but the coach’s confidence in his young netminder has been shaken.

There’s no confirmation as to who will be on duty for the Panthers, but Sergei Bobrovsky has a 16-8-1 record with a 2.45 GAA and a .919 SP against the Canadiens, while Vitek Vanecek is 3-1-0 with a 2.76 GAA and a .894 SP.

Up front, after a tough outing against the Carolina Hurricanes, captain Nick Suzuki should welcome a matchup with the Cats. He has 15 points in 17 games against Florida, six points behind alternate captain Brendan Gallagher, who has 23 points in 38 games, and four points behind Patrik Laine, who has 22 in 21 duels.

The Habs will need to keep an eye on an old foe in new colours, as Brad Marchand has 48 points in 57 games against the Canadiens. Captain Aleksander Barkov comes in second place with 47 points in 37 games, and veteran Sam Reinhart comes third with 22 points in 32 games.

Not to sound like a broken record, but this is an absolute must-win game for the Canadiens who will hope to keep their dominance on the Cats this season going. Montreal has only won three of the last 10 games against their host, so this remains a tall order for the young Habs. It will be interesting to see if St-Louis keeps an 11-7 formation of if he scratches a defenseman. 

On Saturday, the Senators did the Canadiens a favor by beating the Columbus Blue Jackets in regulation, meaning they dropped behind the Canadiens who momentarily got the second wild card back, only to lose it again when to the New York Rangers when they beat the San Jose Sharks in regulation. The silver lining for the Habs is that they still have two games in hand on the Blueshirts, just like Columbus and the New York Islanders mind you. 

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The Montreal Canadiens are now outside looking in to the playoffs race, thanks to a five-game losing streak. For Martin St-Louis’ men to even have a chance to make the Spring dance, they must return to their winning ways now, but it could be challenging. The Habs have only 10 games left on their schedule, and their next two games will be against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers.

Demidov Faces Criticism
Canadiens: Is Xhekaj Facing The Axe?
Three Takeaways From The Canadiens' Deserved Loss In Carolina

Despite being without Matthew Tkachuk because of an injury and Aaron Ekblad because of a suspension, the Canadiens are marching on. They have a 6-4-0 record in their last 10 games and have won their previous two. However, the Canadiens have won the first two matchups with Florida this season.

The 4-0 win at the end of December was a turning point in the Canadiens’ season. It marked Jakub Dobes’ fulgurant start in the league, but he has lost some of his shine since then. He’s dropped his last three starts and expects to see Samuel Montembeault for most games, if not all, as long as the Habs are in the mix. As for the 3-1 victory in mid-March, it put an end to a losing streak and was a springboard for a dominant win over the Ottawa Senators.

The stakes are even higher now, and even if the Habs had a day off on Saturday, it’s easy to know Montembeault will be in goal on Sunday. He has a 2-4-1 record in eight games against Florida, with a 4.21 goals-against average and a .886 save percentage. Dobes played them once and was flawless, but the coach’s confidence in his young netminder has been shaken.

There’s no confirmation as to who will be on duty for the Panthers, but Sergei Bobrovsky has a 16-8-1 record with a 2.45 GAA and a .919 SP against the Canadiens, while Vitek Vanecek is 3-1-0 with a 2.76 GAA and a .894 SP.

Up front, after a tough outing against the Carolina Hurricanes, captain Nick Suzuki should welcome a matchup with the Cats. He has 15 points in 17 games against Florida, six points behind alternate captain Brendan Gallagher, who has 23 points in 38 games, and four points behind Patrik Laine, who has 22 in 21 duels.

The Habs will need to keep an eye on an old foe in new colours, as Brad Marchand has 48 points in 57 games against the Canadiens. Captain Aleksander Barkov comes in second place with 47 points in 37 games, and veteran Sam Reinhart comes third with 22 points in 32 games.

Not to sound like a broken record, but this is an absolute must-win game for the Canadiens who will hope to keep their dominance on the Cats this season going. Montreal has only won three of the last 10 games against their host, so this remains a tall order for the young Habs. It will be interesting to see if St-Louis keeps an 11-7 formation of if he scratches a defenseman. 

On Saturday, the Senators did the Canadiens a favor by beating the Columbus Blue Jackets in regulation, meaning they dropped behind the Canadiens who momentarily got the second wild card back, only to lose it again when to the New York Rangers when they beat the San Jose Sharks in regulation. The silver lining for the Habs is that they still have two games in hand on the Blueshirts, just like Columbus and the New York Islanders mind you. 

Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story.  

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.

Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.

Boone Jenner(5) and Kirill Marchenko(28) provided the only offense for Columbus, and Daniil Tarasov suffered a 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

The Jackets fell short against Ottawa on Saturday night, and their playoff hopes suffered for it. 

With the loss to the Senators, the CBJ fell out of the wild card two spot, getting supplanted by the Montréal Canadiens the second the clock hit zeros. But then, later in the night, the New York Rangers beat the San Jose Sharks and would jump both Columbus and Montréal, knocking the Blue Jackets down another spot in the standings. All in all, it was a tough night for Columbus. 

Dean Evason said after the game, "That was a great game. Both teams played hard, played fast. Certainly the start was fantastic, the pace of the game. Everybody was playing their butts off. We had lots of chances, certainly in the third period and at the end to tie it. It was just a great hockey game that we fell a little bit short."

Zach Werenski added, "I thought we played hard. I thought it was a pretty even game for the most part. We'd probably like to have back some minutes in the second there where I thought we didn't get to our game, but it's a good team. I liked our effort."

The Jackets are now 33-30-9 with 75 points. 

Final Stats

Player Stats

• Boone Jenner scored his 5th goal of the season.
• Kirill Marchenko scored his 28th goal of the season.
• Zach Werenski had a pair of assists, his 51st and 52nd of the year. He also led the team with 5 shots.
• Denton Mateychuk recorded his 6th assist of the season.
• Daniil Tarasov stopped 24 of 27 Ottawa shots.

Team Stats

• The Jackets power play went 0/1 on the night.
• The Columbus PK stopped both of Ottawa's power plays.
• Columbus won 38.5% of the faceoffs.

Up Next: The Jackets welcome the Nashville Predators into Nationwide Arena on Tuesday. 

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