Montreal Canadiens: Handed Playoff Spot on Silver Platter, Now In a Dog Fight

Montreal Canadiens playoff chances were incredibly high all season.

This is the case when a team starts the year 7-1-2 and is scoring goals at even strength as much as they please.

The Habs haven’t been able to maintain that pace. That’s fine, no team can collect 16 points in every ten game stretch. The problem is, the Habs haven’t even been close to that strong start at any point in their last 36 games since the hot start.

In those 36 games, what amounts to almost half a full NHL season, the Canadiens have put together a rather pedestrian record of 13-16-7. That means, for basically the past two months, the Canadiens have played as well as a 75 point team would over a full season. That’s not good at all.

Still, as recently as a week ago they had an extremely high chance of qualifying for the postseason.

That was before a stretch of five games against the Calgary Flames. The Flames were firmly implanted in fifth place at the time and look too far back to ever catch up to the Canadiens. Recently, the Habs split a pair of games with the Edmonton Oilers before losing two in a row in regulation to the Flames.

Those last two losses have dropped the Habs playoff chances from a sure thing to much more of an uncertainty.

Suddenly, the Flames are just four points back of the Canadiens. Montreal has played one less game, but games played don’t really matter if you keep losing them all.

Also, speaking of having games in hand. The Vancouver Canucks are suddenly back in the mix thanks to the Habs poor play. The Canucks were shut down for weeks due to a Covid outbreak in their dressing room, but they have played well since returning to the ice last week.

They remain eight points back of the Canadiens, but have played five less games. If they can go 4-1-0 in those extra games they are right there in the playoff mix. Of course, if the Habs go 3-7-0 over their next ten games to end the season, just like they did over their last ten, they won’t be all that hard to catch.

The Habs play the Flames again tomorrow night to close out this five game road trip. Another regulation loss would put the Flames just two points back heading down the stretch.

Not only is the Habs playoff chances starting to dwindle, they could find themselves in sixth place in a weak Canadian Division when the dust settles. They have three wins in their last ten games, three more over their final ten would spell doom.