The Montreal Canadiens once again will look to pull off another first-round playoff upset against their arch-rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs.
When the all-Canadian division was decided and the playoff format was set, we all knew this was a very good possibility. And now, for the first time in over 40 years, the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs will battle in the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
On paper, the Leafs are the clear favourites, and no analyst or hockey personality is giving the Habs a chance to advance. But they have been here many times before and are just fine with it. Josh Anderson mentioned in a press conference this week he has no problem being an underdog and that the team is relishing the opportunity.
The team was in the exact same spot last summer when they drew the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Toronto bubble and managed to shock the hockey world. That should give Habs fans hope they can pull it off again.
The team from last summer compared to now has improved drastically with the likes of Josh Anderson, Tyler Toffoli, Joel Edmundson, and Jake Allen. They got off to a great start, as per usual, but struggled down the stretch and ended up finishing in fourth place.
The Leafs won the North division in a landslide and Auston Matthews had the best season of his career so far, scoring 41 goals and winning the Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy. So, all the pressure is on him and the Buds to avoid the upset.
Unlike last time, where the Montreal Canadiens hadn’t played in four or five months and were fully healthy, there are some questions marks and we will have to wait until Thursday night to see.
The Canadiens were hit once again with the injury bug, with Carey Price not playing for the last month due to a concussion, Brendan Gallagher with his broken thumb, Philip Danualt with his concussion, and Shea Weber with his hand injury.
Both Price and Gallagher played a conditioning stint with the Laval Rocket in their final game of the season. While Price looked a bit shaky, it’s better he does in a meaningless AHL game than in the playoffs. On the other hand, Gallagher looked like himself while crashing the net.
There is also the question of Cole Caufield and will he play, and for now, he has been skating with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Michael Frolik on the Canadiens fifth line, meaning they’re not in the starting lineup.
People have criticized Dominque Ducharme for not putting him in the lineup, especially considering the fact the Habs need goals, and he has scored four in the first 10 NHL games of his young career. Here are some keys I think the team will need to do to get the job done.
Philip Danualt will be a key, once again, to shut down Matthews. Most of the time they are matched up, he does it quite well and that will be a focal point to, at least, mitigate the potent Leaf’s offence.
Scoring goals is another thing the team will need to be consistent on. And we saw them struggle with it last summer when they played the Philadelphia Flyers. One of the reasons they lost was because of their up and down, and at times streaky, offence
The Montreal Canadiens were held off the score sheet in two of the games against the Flyers and that led to their demise. So, getting to the net and making Jack Campbell’s life difficult will help.
Another major sticking point is special teams. Montreal has to stay out of the box due since the Leaf’s powerplay is one of the best in the league, even if it seems to have lost some life in the last couple games of the regular season. They also need their powerplay to click which they did a good job at the beginning of the season before everything went downhill.
The team has been working on their powerplay this week and I honestly think a couple of days of practice will do good since they had zero chance to work on it in the final stretch of the season, in which they played 25 games in 40 days.
If Montreal is able to capitalize on these things, the Leafs will have a tough time, and the Habs will do what they did to the Penguins last summer. My prediction is that Montreal has the means to do it. And as long as Price plays like he did last summer, I can predict the Habs will in it six games.
Game one is scheduled for Thursday at 7:30 pm EST at Scotiabank Arena, enjoy the game!