The Columbus Blue Jackets are playing their game-in-hand against the Buffalo Sabres, and the Montreal Canadiens need that result to go south for them.
After dropping their most important game of the year, the Montreal Canadiens needed a game like Saturday night’s. The powerplay clicked seeing Joel Armia score against his former team, Jeff Petry added to his already solid offensive season, and Jordan Weal finished the job scoring his seventh of the season into the empty net.
We also can’t forget Carey Price who wasn’t tested nearly as much as Connor Hellebuyck was, but still made stops when the team needed it. Speaking of the team, the Habs didn’t let up all game. Montreal got 43 shots on net including nine on the man advantage, and luckily enough went by Hellebuyck to secure the win.
Unfortunately, the Columbus Blue Jackets won last night as well, defeating the Nashville Predators 5-2. But it’s too deep in the season to nitpick. A win is a win, and although the Montreal Canadiens didn’t get back into a playoff spot, they maintained the same distance – or lack of distance given the two teams are tied – n the standings to stay as close as possible to the Blue Jackets.
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But this is what makes today an important one for the Habs and Blue Jackets. Today Columbus plays it’s game-in-hand against the Buffalo Sabres while the Canadiens sit and watch for the perfect result.
A win separates the two teams by two points whereas a loss leaves things unchanged and makes it even easier for the Montreal Canadiens to backdoor into a playoff spot.
The irony is incredible here. Last week, the Habs were doing all they could to bury the Sabres in an intense 7-4 victory. Now the team, as well as the entire fanbase, will be cheering as loud as they can for Buffalo to squeak out a win.
Both Buffalo and Columbus played last night, however, there is an impactful advantage the Sabres have over them. The Sabres are only coming up from Rhode Island, whereas the Blue Jackets had to travel all the way from Nashville. It’s going to make goaltending all the more important.
Carter Hutton has been the guy in Buffalo starting in 46 games this season. Linus Ullmark has 32 starts, and his numbers are fairly similar to Hutton’s which isn’t too comforting. On the bright side, he has a winning record at 14-13-5.
The Columbus Blue Jackets could go with backup Joonas Korpisalo or send Sergei Bobrovsky out for another round. He’s been playing extremely well, and Korpisalo hasn’t been as solid as he was last year.
What doesn’t help are the number of injuries the Sabres have. Rasmus Ristolainen has missed three games with an illness, Evan Rodrigues, Vladimir Sobotka, and Jake McCabe are out with upper-body injuries, while Zach Bogosian is out with a lower-body. Not to mention Marco Scandella who left the Islanders game with some kind of ailment that hasn’t been announced yet. That’s a massive knife on the team’s blueline.
All the Montreal Canadiens can do is be as optimistic as possible. Crazier things have happened, and perhaps the power of playing spoiler can help spark the Buffalo Sabres to pulling through. If Buffalo wins, great, thanks, we owe you one. Otherwise, it’ll be back to the drawing board making the final week more important than it already was.