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Playoff Watch: Montreal Canadiens picked a good night to respond

By Omar L |
DETROIT, MI - FEBRUARY 26: Andrew Shaw #65 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his third goal of the game with teammates Victor Mete #53, Max Domi #13, Jeff Petry #26 and Jonathan Drouin #92 in front of goaltender Jonathan Bernier #45 of the Detroit Red Wings during the third period of an NHL game at Little Caesars Arena on February 26, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. Montreal defeated Detroit 8-1. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - FEBRUARY 26: Andrew Shaw #65 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his third goal of the game with teammates Victor Mete #53, Max Domi #13, Jeff Petry #26 and Jonathan Drouin #92 in front of goaltender Jonathan Bernier #45 of the Detroit Red Wings during the third period of an NHL game at Little Caesars Arena on February 26, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. Montreal defeated Detroit 8-1. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Montreal Canadiens could’ve been on the wrong end of standings had they not won given the results from the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Marc Bergevin said in his press conference after the trade deadline that everything could easily be decided in the last three or four games. He’s not wrong at all, and the Montreal Canadiens limit the panic and concern by coming up with a massive win over the Detroit Red Wings Tuesday night.

The scoreboard was on fire with the Carolina Hurricanes in action against the Los Angeles Kings; the Pittsburgh Penguins took on the new and improved Columbus Blue Jackets while the Buffalo Sabres were on the second half of a back-to-back against the Philadelphia Flyers. It’s fairly easy to tell why the Detroit game was a must-win for the Habs.

Luckily, the Montreal Canadiens came out with a win (a massive one).

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Carolina had a big win of their own handing the Kings their ninth straight loss. LA scored their only goal in the third period via Dustin Brown but it was far too late by that point. Dougie Hamilton had a two-goal performance for the Hurricanes, Jordan Staal put up three assists, while Teuvo Terravainen led the way with a goal and three helpers.

That win propelled Carolina to a spot in the top three of the Metropolitan Division, knocking the Blue Jackets out of a playoff spot entirely. Pittsburgh is responsible for that as well, winning 5-2.

The Penguins took control of the scored board quickly with two goals in the first period thanks to Jake Guentzel (29) and Jared McCann (12). Columbus started to claw their way back after Evgeni Malkin scored his 20th of the season in the opening frame of the second seeing newcomer Ryan Dzingel earn his first point with the Blue Jackets assisting on Oliver Bjorkstrand‘s goal.

They would get another goal in the second before letting Pittsburgh score two more times in the third for the final decision.

The Sabres loss was a Flyers goal-scoring sandwich. It started with two goals from Philadelphia and ended with two goals from Philadelphia. Jack Eichel dug into the initial two-goal deficit scoring his 22nd of the year on the powerplay and third goal in two days. The Flyers and Sabres went back and forth in the second scoring with James van Riemsdyk and Casey Mittelstadt both finding the back of the net making the game close at 3-2.

However, the second slice of bread came down starting with Travis Sanheim scoring after 46 seconds in the third. Claude Giroux put the final nail in the coffin in the remaining five minutes of the game handing Buffalo their sixth loss in seven games.

The Montreal Canadiens would’ve been out of a playoff spot had they not won. They’d be in a tie with Columbus at 73 but the Blue Jackets get the tiebreaker as they have more wins.

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Now the focus is on the New York Rangers on Friday leading up to a massive game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. It’s exciting now, but things have only just begun.

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