Montreal Canadiens: An Arizona Coyotes team ripe for the picking

After a frustrating loss to Columbus on Tuesday, the Montreal Canadiens have the chance to build some confidence against a struggling Arizona Coyotes team.

The Montreal Canadiens were one of the teams in the NHL not to have that good of a start to their season. However, in many ways more than one, the Arizona Coyotes have been worse. As terrible as it sounds, this may be the kind of game the Habs need after a second-half push against the Blue Jackets was prevented with a Vezina caliber performance from Sergei Bobrovsky and a mistake-filled overtime.

Unfortunately, the single point the Habs managed to get in the loss didn’t help much. They’re currently beneath five teams for the final wild-card spot, but there’s only a two-point separation. I’ve mentioned this before, and others have argued the same thing, but the Montreal Canadiens need to go on a series run. Don’t get me wrong, five points in eight games is a nice total, but it isn’t enough.

The New York Rangers were in the same position not too long ago but just had a six-game winning streak put to an end. Other teams are going to get their one or two wins here and there, but the Habs need a stretch of them. There’s no reason why that shouldn’t start Thursday night against the Coyotes.

Last year’s tire fire team was the Colorado Avalanche. The Avs won 7 of their first 20 games, but it all went downhill after that. Semyon Varlamov sustained a season-ending surgery, and Colorado ended that regular season with only 48 points. Considering the Coyotes are 2-15-3 and are the only team in the NHL not to hit double-digit points, they could end up being worse.

The Habs won both games played against Arizona last season. The first was a 5-2 win, while the final game was a little more exciting ending in overtime. Montreal should win this one, but this has all the signs of being a trap.