Montreal Canadiens: We’re In! Habs Clinch Playoff Spot With OT Loss To Oilers

The magic number was “1” for a week now. All that was needed was a single point by the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge for the Montreal Canadiens to finally clinch that playoff spot. Through trial and tribulation and a 3 game skid, we’re finally in.

Last night’s 4-3 overtime loss in the second to last game of the season gives the team a chance to pursue the ultimate prize but it didn’t come easy. Jake Evans with a nifty move opened the score for the home faithful for a rare time this season.

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That was Evans’ 3rd goal of the season assisted by Lehkonen and Byron. Michel Lacroix was still announcing the goal as 20 seconds later James Neal ties it up with his 5th of the year.

https://twitter.com/TheReplayGuy/status/1391897758437715970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1391897758437715970%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.danslescoulisses.com%2Ffr%2Fmalgre-la-defaite-le-canadien-accede-aux-series-eliminatoires%2F

Assists to McLeod and Chiasson. The Habs were fighting hard to get the momentum on their side but Ryan Nugent-Hopkins killed all of that at 13:29 assisted by Yamamoto and Draisaitl.

https://twitter.com/TheReplayGuy/status/1391899035288616962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1391899035288616962%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.danslescoulisses.com%2Ffr%2Fmalgre-la-defaite-le-canadien-accede-aux-series-eliminatoires%2F

End of the 1st period and it’s 2-1 Oilers. Noteworthy is Leon Draisaitl registered his 50th assist of the season on RNH’s goal. Nearly 6 minutes into the second period though, the returning Paul Byron ties it up.

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That was “Ti-Paul’s” 5th of the year assisted by Lehkonen and Evans. 3 minutes later the Oilers once again spoil the party.

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Dominik Kahun gets his 8th of the season assisted by McDavid and Caleb Jones. That now puts McDavid at 101 points. 3-2 Oilers after 2. The newly aligned Byron-Evans-Lehkonen line was on fire all night and decided they were going to take control of this game. With a great rush and passing play down the ice, Lehkonen scores to tie it up…until replay shows off-side, and thus the goal is waived off.

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Josh Anderson had a golden opportunity to tie it up but ultimately the 6-foot-7 Mikka Koskinen shut the door.

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After back and forth battles, at 13:04, Lehkonen gets one past Koskinen to tie it up and this one is definitely good!

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The line of Byron-Evans-Lehkonen get a goal each and literally carried this team on their shoulders all game. This was Lehkonen’s 7th of the season assisted by Evans and Ben Chiarot. The Habs then completely regrouped defensively and made sure to run the clock as much as possible. By doing so, they clinched the 16th and final spot of the playoffs.

Finally.

Overtime and Jeff Petry trips near the faceoff dot beside the Oilers net. Tyler Toffoli does the same and misses a few shots. Darnell Nurse even slipped in that area as well. Clearly, there was something wrong with that patch of ice. It was all for naught however as Leon Draisaitl made a long pass to McDavid that sent him on a breakaway. We all knew what was going to happen.

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That was McDavid’s 33rd of the year assisted by Draisaitl. This now puts McDavid at an incredible 102 points in 54 games,

Final score: Oilers 4 Canadiens 3

Montreal drops their 4th game in a row and is now 24-21-10 on the year.

Game notes: The Canadiens were outshot 35-28 and had their game saved by the incredible night of the Byron-Evans-Lehkonen line who combined for 8 points. The absence of Phillip Danault was felt as Edmonton dominated on the face-off dot winning 33 draws versus only 19 for Montreal.

Paul Byron was back in the lineup after missing 9 games. Brendan Gallagher (fractured thumb) and Carey Price (concussion) are practicing with the team but don’t expect to see them in the lineup during the last game of the season. Shea Weber (upper-body), Jonathan Drouin (personal), and Danault (concussion) did not practice and their timeline for a return is still unclear at this time.

The final game of the year is an early 5 pm ET start on Wednesday against the Oilers.