There will be no NHL games today as the league is on Thanksgiving break in the United States. Most of the time when a team is in playoff position at this point, they end up making the spring dance, but this year looks a little different.
With 27 points, the Montreal Canadiens are currently just outside the playoffs, as they sit in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. However, not only do they have games in hand against every team ahead of them except for Pittsburgh Penguinsbut they are also only four points behind first place in the East, held by the New Jersey Devils with 31 points and three points behind the leader of the Atlantic division Tampa Bay Lightning.
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Rarely has the ranking been so tight in the Conference, and it is much tighter than in the West, where the league leader Colorado Avalanche have 39 points, followed by Dallas Stars with 34 points and the Minnesota Wild with 30 points. The West is home to the three teams with the lowest point totals: St. Louis Blues (21 points), the Calgary Flames (19 points), and the Nashville Predators (18 points).
Simply put, anything can still happen in the standings, and if the Canadiens can continue their current winning streak (it’ll be a challenge with the Vegas Golden Knights and Avalanche on their schedule), they’ll be right back in the thick of things.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Canadiens haven’t been spared from injuries thus far, with Patrik Laine, Kaiden Guhle, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach all out for an extended period of time. General manager Kent Hughes has already helped by signing free agent Alexandre Tessier, but he’s still working the phones, according to rumors circulating around the league. There’s no denying that if he could provide some much-needed help in the middle, the Canadiens would be in a much better position.
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Putting the goaltending woes in the rearview mirror would also go a long way in helping Martin St. Louis’ team punch their ticket to the playoffs. Jakub Dobes has been solid in his last two starts, and Samuel Montembeault is destined to bounce back; otherwise, he could end up riding the pin for the foreseeable future since the trainer now seems determined to ride the hot hand.
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