The Montreal Canadiens won last night in a game against the New York Rangers. The Rangers have locked up home ice in the opening round of the NHL Playoffs, and will finish second in the Metropolitan Division.
They didn’t ice the greatest lineup with stars like Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin resting up to get ready for the postseason.
So, the Habs pulling out a 4-3 win with a last minute goal by Jeff Petry wasn’t the team’s biggest accomplishment this season… ah maybe it was… it has been a long season.
The win gave the Canadiens 53 points in the standings after 81 games. This put them, momentarily, in a tie with the Arizona Coyotes at 53. But, the Coyotes had won 17 games in regulation to that point, while the Habs win last night was the Habs 15th in 60 minutes of action. That’s important because regulation wins is the first tiebreaker.
So, even with the win, the Canadiens sat last in the NHL standings.
If you went to bed as soon as the Habs game ended, you would have noticed the Arizona Coyotes were losing 3-0 to the Dallas Stars after two periods.
Somehow, the Coyotes made a miraculous comeback to tie that game at three, and then won it in overtime. This gave the Coyotes 55 points in standings, and put them two points up on the Habs.
With just one game left to play, against the Florida Panthers tomorrow night, the Canadiens can not finish higher than anyone in the standings this season.
That means they will have the best odds of winning the first overall pick in the upcoming NHL Draft Lottery.
Getting the top pick is far from a guarantee. A lottery is held for each of the top two picks, and though the Canadiens have a better chance than anyone else, it is still unlikely they pick first overall.
The Canadiens now have a 25.5% chance of getting the first overall pick. An 18.8% chance of falling to second overall and a 55.7% chance of falling to third.
Finishing last does not mean they get the top pick, but it does guarantee a top three pick.
The draft lottery will be held on May 10th and the NHL Draft is set for July 7-8 in Montreal.
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