Montreal Canadiens: One more regulation loss and it's elimination city

The Montreal Canadiens have a dictating game tonight against the Florida Panthers as they will be eliminated from playoff contention if they lose.

You can think of a lot of puns for tonights Montreal Canadiens game. The Florida Panthers can claw the playoffs from the Habs minds or pounce on the rest of the team’s season. Those weren’t the best examples, but you get the point. If the Habs lose this game in regulation, they will be officially eliminated from playoff contention.

Now that’s not news to anyone regardless of what team they support. Montreal has been out of it for the majority of the season, and it would’ve taken the most Cinderella of runs to get them into a playoff spot. The only difference is now the Habs name will be greyed out when looking at the standings. That is of course if they lose.

The Habs could still play little game of spoiler on the Panthers who desperately need this win after losing to the Edmonton Oilers. It may be a long shot for them as well seeing as how the magic number for needed points is at five, but they’ll be coming out strong tonight at the Bell Centre.

Montreal, on the other hand, is coming off a dominating loss at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team was putting up better efforts despite still losing, but Saturday night wasn’t even close to the type of night Claude Julien would want for the team. Jonathan Drouin and Jacob de La Rose‘s lines had good pressure on the Leafs in the opening period, but like the rest of the team, it fizzled out. The score could’ve been a lot worse were it not for Charlie Lindgren and the night he had.

Speaking of that, it’ll be a Lindgren-less lineup for the Montreal Canadiens after the 24-year-old was sent down this morning. On the bright side, Carey Price will be dressing and looks ready to return to the ice. Claude Julien didn’t confirm whether Price is playing, but it’s more than likely that Antti Niemi gets the start. Although the optics of it don’t look too good, the Habs confirmed that the 30-year-old is 100% healthy and eager to play again.

The lineup tonight appears to be the same that went against the Leafs on Saturday based on the lines and pairings at morning skate. However, Charles Hudon and Daniel Carr have switched places seeing the latter get the promotion to the third line with Nikita Scherbak and Logan Shaw. The cycle between Michael McCarron and Byron Froese continued on the fourth line, and it isn’t clear who will play.

Montreal Canadiens: One more regulation loss and it’s elimination city

By Omar L | Mar 19, 2018

The Montreal Canadiens have a dictating game tonight against the Florida Panthers as they will be eliminated from playoff contention if they lose.