Are the Montreal Canadiens legitimate?

On a night where the entire Montreal Canadiens's roster played a strong, cohesive game against the Vancouver Canucks, Pierre McGuire's assessment of the team was pretty spot on.

Until the Montreal Canadiens either clinch a playoff spot or fall short of booking their place in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, it's hard to tell what is going to happen. But one thing that is a constant, is the play of Habs captain Nick Suzuki, and their brilliant rookie defender Lane Hutson. McGuire on The Sick Podcast - The Eye Test, blames a lot of the Habs' success on Hutson and Suzuki, and how good they have been.

The pair were once again at their best against the Canucks, recording three-point night, and capping it off with their connection on the overtime winner. Suzuki has become known as one of the Canadiens most clutch players. On the backend, that distinction goes to Hutson, who is like a jitterbug out on the ice.

Right now, as far as hockey goes, things are going very well in Montreal, Quebec, with the team playing some of their most encouraging hockey of the year. I think if Samuel Montembeault and Jakub Dobes can continue their strong play, Montreal could squeeze their way into the playoffs permanently come April. Scoring will need to continue, and Patrik Laine coming back will help, but the defence has been great and things are rolling.

There will be losses and maybe even missteps over the course of the 2025 portion of the 2024-2025 regular season schedule. But the teams' resiliency and playoff contender legitimacy will be put to the test, and the groups' response will be very telling. I think if they don't make the playoffs it's not a lost season, because the team learned plenty of lessons, and will develop some callouses.

Kaiden Guhle played a man's game on Monday night

The media prodded Cole Caufield about what Kaiden Guhle does for the group, and his answer was priceless. Priceless, but very fitting for Guhle, after the night he had against the Canucks. I'm not sure if Canadian opponents bring the best out of Guhle or what it is, but he showed up to play.

Guhle certainly buried some guys with his big body checks.

Guhle, according to the official NHL.com statistics, finished the game with just two hits, but he played with a mean streak. His first hit of the night set the tone for the Habs. Canucks rookie Jonathan Lekkerimaki got clobbered by Guhle.

Shortly after the hit, Caufield found himself in the slot, and fired home a wicked wrister past Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen. The hit injected energy into the Bell Centre crowd, and it resulted in a Caufield goal, which only encouraged the corwd further. Guhle wasn't done there either; he had another big hit shortly after the Canadiens took the lead.

The Edmonton, Alberta, native was all over the place against the Canucks. Not only did he have two hits that separated the opponent from their skates, but he chipped in offensively. Montreal's second goal of the night, which brought the Habs within one goal of the Canucks, came from Guhle's stick.