The Montreal Canadiens must get four points on the upcoming road trip

The Montreal Canadiens are on the road taking on the Arizona Coyotes, Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars and need positive results in the standings.

It’s going to be a week away from the Bell Centre for the Montreal Canadiens. The team has played five games on the road so far this year going 2-1-2, earning five out of a possible ten points.

What could be a little concerning is that the Habs had only one win over a playoff team (Toronto Maple Leafs) while they lost to the Minnesota Wild, who are looking to be in the draft lottery this year. That said, it was on the second half of a back-to-back.

Things get going for the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday against the Arizona Coyotes. The Yotes have been trying to make the playoffs for years and got close last season if it weren’t for injuries. However, they are getting offence by committee, and it’s paying off despite not having Niklas Hjalmarsson in the lineup.

Nick Schmaltz is having a good year (11 points in 11 games), as is 23-year-old Conor Garland. Of all things, Arizona is getting excellent goaltending from the tandem of Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta, who have respective .933 and .922 save percentages.

The Coyotes are currently in a playoff spot sitting third in the Pacific Division. It’s way too early to lock them into a postseason appearance as the Western Conference is always tight. The team will be going for those points, and the Montreal Canadiens must be ready for that push.

Unfortunately, this opening set of games are back-to-back, and after the game in Arizona, Montreal heads to Vegas to face the Golden Knights.

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Vegas is right ahead of Arizona in the standings taking the second spot in the Atlantic Division. Mark Stone has taken the team over offensively with seven goals and nine assists for 16 points and is getting early Hart Trophy considerations from those who watch him play on a nightly basis. Top-line winger Rilley Smith is also putting in some work tied for team-lead in goals with Stone while Marc-Andre Fleury is doing what he does best with eight wins on the season.

It’s going to be an important game for both teams as former captain Max Pacioretty is the opponent once again, but it’ll be Nick Suzuki‘s first game against the team who drafted him. Suzuki already has three goals on the season, and perhaps his feelings towards the Golden Knights help give the Habs an extra boost with fatigue likely working against them.

Montreal gets a little break before playing the Dallas Stars Saturday night. The Stars have been a mess this season with their offence taking a massive cut despite adding Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry while already having the likes of Tyler Seguin, Jaime Benn, and Alexander Radulov.

None of the five players mentioned have performed up to expectations. The most any of them have scored so far are the two goals Seguin and Pavelski have each put up. The surprise in Dallas has been 23-year-old Roope Hintz, who leads the team with seven points in 13 games.

That is a game the Montreal Canadiens must win considering how poorly they’ve performed. When it comes to the back-to-back, you’d like for them to get the W in at least one of those games and return to Montreal with four out of six points.

The way the schedule has slowed down this week for Halloween provides the Habs with an opportunity to leapfrog some teams in the standings. Getting those points on this road trip will make the difference down the line once those other struggling teams start to figure things out.