At the beginning of the season, the Montreal Canadiens were expected to finish at the bottom of the Atlantic Division for the fourth-straight season.
Entering the final week of the campaign, the Canadiens are on the verge of making the playoffs for the first time since their improbable run to the Stanley Cup final four years ago.
Montreal has set a torrid pace with a 6-1-1 record and an NHL-best 13 points since March 30, pulling away from the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and New York Islanders. But this weekend, a 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators and a 1-0 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday prevented the Canadiens from punching their ticket to the post-season.
"I thought our effort was there the whole time,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said Saturday. “Coming in on a back-to-back is tough. I thought we kept it pretty simple, trying to go north, (we) defended well, our penalty kill did a helluva job. It's a point. We might need that, so we'll take it."
The only club still able to catch Montreal is the equally surprising Columbus Blue Jackets, which registered back-to-back wins over the Washington Capitals to stay alive. With two games left, the Canadiens have 88 points and lead Columbus by three points for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
Canadiens' Suzuki Itching For Playoff Hockey In Sold-Out Bell CentreMontreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki knew exactly what he wanted to accomplish this season before it began.
The Habs need a single point in their final two games against Chicago on Monday and Carolina on Wednesday to eliminate the Blue Jackets and lock up their first-round matchup against the Capitals.
The matchup against Washington would mark the first time that the two clubs met since 2010. The Capitals would be the overwhelming favorite in the series as they were 15 years ago, but Montreal did upset top-seeded Washington in seven games behind the stellar goaltending of Jaroslav Halak.
“(We have to) just stay the course,” Canadiens coach Martin St-Louis said Saturday. “Play the game that’s in front of you, like we did (against Toronto), and things will work out. I’m really proud of the way the guys played tonight.”
Last year’s first-round pick, Ivan Demidov, took to the ice for the first time with his new teammates at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday. There had been speculation that the speedy 19-year-old Russian could make his NHL debut against the Blackhawks on Monday, but that could be in jeopardy based on the fact that Monday’s contest has playoff implications.
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