Hanging On By A Thread

The Montreal Canadiens shot themselves in the foot with their 1-0 defeat against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. According to Moneypuck.com, the Habs now have an 9% chance of making the Spring dance.

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They may only be three points out of the last wild card spot, but there are so many teams vying for that spot that it will be a fight to the finish. Montreal now only has 19 games left, including three against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, one against the Toronto Maple Leafs, one against the Colorado Avalanche, and two against the Carolina Hurricanes. That’s seven games against teams well on their way to clinching a playoff spot.

Out of the 12 remaining games, seven are against teams battling for their playoff lives; one against the Vancouver Canucks, two against the Ottawa Senators (who made a splash at the deadline), one against the New York Islanders, one against the St. Louis Blues, one against the Boston Bruins (even though they pressed the reset button, they’re still in the race), and one against the Detroit Red Wings.

This leaves only five games against teams on their way to elimination: one against the Seattle Kraken (who obliterated Montreal 8-2 in their only other duel this season), two against the Philadelphia Flyers (whom the Canadiens beat 4-3 earlier this season), one against the Nashville Predators (whom the Habs blanked 3-0 earlier this season), and one against the Chicago Blackhawks (who beat Martin St-Louis’ men 4-2 in January).

In other words, even the games considered “easy” on paper won’t be judging by previous results this season. One thing is sure: the Canadiens cannot afford an anemic attack. Before Saturday night’s shutout defeat, the first line had been on fire, but it cannot be the only line producing. A big part of the Canadiens’ success this season has been the diversity of their attack. The Habs have 11 players with 10 goals or more; offense has got to be provided by committee.

The sooner Patrik Laine is back, the better, and when he is back, he may be best served by a more experienced center. If it were up to me, I’d send Owen Beck back to the Laval Rocket and call up a player with more NHL experience, like Rafael Harvey-Pinard or Alex Barre-Boulet.