With how close the Atlantic Divison is, it’ll not only be important to pay attention to what the Montreal Canadiens are doing but how the other teams look.
The Atlantic Division has gone through a serious alteration between this season and last. Back then, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs were at the top while the other teams scrambled to try to make the playoffs. By the end of the year, they wound up being the only Atlantic teams to make the playoffs, but for a large portion of the season, it was only those three even though the Montreal Canadiens had a taste of a spot.
It’s safe to say this year ridiculously different. At the top is Boston continuing their play from their Stanely Cup Final appearance against the St. Louis Blues. It took seven games for the Blues to win it, and you can tell the Bruins were frustrated with the way things played out given how hot they’ve been all year.
It’s a mess after the Bruins as the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning are all within two points of each other. The Habs and Leafs have the second and third spots in the Atlantic Division, respectively, but one game, or one night even, can completely change things.
The Canadiens have been bouncing up and down between a playoff spot and on the bubble while the Leafs look like they’ve found themselves under a new coach. The Sabres are clearly being carried by Jack Eichel, who just saw his 17-game point streak come to an end due to injury while the Panthers are bobbing around despite not having the best results from Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Lighting, on the other hand, are broken. Their offence isn’t as potent as it has been despite having a couple of blowout wins so far, but their play away from the puck is costing them wins and points. Additionally, it looks as if head coach Jon Cooper is grasping for straws trying to find a way to get Tampa going, and it’s even come down to benching Nikita Kucherov for a period after making a mistake.
The end to the 2019-20 season isn’t going to be simple. It looks as if the Montreal Canadiens will be heading into another situation where their fate as far as the playoffs will be decided in the final weeks. Therefore, that last game against the Toronto Maple Leafs to close out the regualr season will be massive.
Some hockey minds have said it’s ridiculous how some fans are already scoreboard watching even though it’s only December. But I ask, with things as close as they have been and will be, is it really that ridiculous?
Every game is crucial, and every loss can be devastating. The Montreal Canadiens shouldn’t feel safe that they’re in a playoff spot and must continue to pull out points from their games. Any kind of slump could be detrimental to their chances of making it in the end, and Marc Bergevin needs to get the Habs into the playoffs.
Bergevin has been given the world of confidence from ownership, but in any way, shape, or form, missing the playoffs three years in a row for a team like this isn’t good.