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Eastern Conference Wild Card Watch

Habs had a roller coster of a season. Dead last in the east 3 points back of 2nd to last to start December (1 point out of bottom overall in league)....bounce back in Dec/Jan....but goes into 4 nation break with a string of 8 losses in 9 games, and back down to tied for 2nd to last in eastern conference, when everyone again assumes they were dead in the water...

Since 4 nations tournament is over, on February 22nd:

Habs are 3rd team in league for points and points percentage
Suzuki is #2 in league for points (1 behind Thomas) and PPG (behind Kucherov, 1.57 to 1.55)
Suzuki/Caufield both tied #2 in league for game winning goals (4 each)
Hutson #1 in league for +/- with a +19 (in only 22 games). Suzuki #3 in league at +16

Hell of a turnaround. I'm a Habs fan so I'm obviously happy - but even objectively speaking, it's fun to see a team do so well to make the final playoff spot, rather than see a team stumble and bumble and barely make it in. The upcoming Demidov addition is completely unexpected but very exciting.
 
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BLONG7 said:
Habs are the 2nd youngest team in the NHL........they were supposed to just be in the mix.
Interesting turn of events after the 4 Nations Cup.
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They weren't even supposed to be in the mix, it was just the goal of the org. But not many saw them there, even less after that disastrous start.
 
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Satan'sIsland81 said:
I just said the goalies have saved them, my point is when you get outshot 73-36 over two games against the likes of Nashville and Detroit it is hard to say those were impressive performances.
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Keep the salt coming lol.

No one expected the Habs to be in this position to begin with. They have the 7th best record in the league since December 12th and have beaten top dog teams all year by actually outplaying them (swept Florida, won three vs Ottawa, defeated the Lightning, Stars, Avalanche and VGK all on the road).

Also, you mention the last two games without putting context into it. They were playing their 7th game in 11th nights tonight, after a brutal back to back this weekend and third in fourth tonight. The Red Wings were desperate and it showed in the first, shooting from literally everywhere. However, the Habs outshot them in the last two periods and the play tilted their way. You also forget to mention that they outplayed the Bruins and Flyers earlier in the week and evenly played Florida (swept them).

Also, the playoff spot is not clinched yet and they have another important b2b against the Ontario teams coming up.
 
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So after tonight, with a win in regulation in their next 4 games, Montreal is in and the east is set (teams can still move up and down of course)
 
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A regulation win by Montreal against Ottawa tomorrow makes it interesting. Clinches a spot for Montreal and has them 1 point behind Ottawa for WC1.
 
Edit: FFS I'm talking about the Habs recent winning run, the one they are on NOW. Look at the players scoring totals from recent games. Gallagher has 13 pts in his last 12 games. Caufield has 6 pts in that span. Yes I know their season totals.

What's interesting about the Habs run is that aside from Hutson, it's all the old guys carrying the team. Caufield and Slaf aren't scoring that much. It's basically just Suzuki and the trio of old guys they were waiting to buy out - Anderson-Dvorak-Gallagher. The forwards that Hughes/Gorton have brought in have done jack shit lately.
 
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majormajor said:
What's interesting about the Habs run is that aside from Hutson, it's all the old guys carrying the team. Caufield and Slaf aren't scoring that much. It's basically just Suzuki and the trio of old guys they were waiting to buy out - Anderson-Dvorak-Gallagher. The forwards that Hughes/Gorton have brought in have done jack shit lately.
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Suzuki, Caufield and Slafkovsky are respectively 1, 2 and 4, in terms of scoring...
Slaf has like 10 points over Gallagher
 
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majormajor said:
What's interesting about the Habs run is that aside from Hutson, it's all the old guys carrying the team. Caufield and Slaf aren't scoring that much. It's basically just Suzuki and the trio of old guys they were waiting to buy out - Anderson-Dvorak-Gallagher. The forwards that Hughes/Gorton have brought in have done jack shit lately.
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Caufield and Slaf are two significant reasons why that line is clicking. You're also forgetting Guhle, Struble, Carrier and even Matheson. The whole team will be one of the youngest in history to make the post-season. That the coaching staff can make so many players improve and play above their expected level is a positive in any case.
 
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majormajor said:
What's interesting about the Habs run is that aside from Hutson, it's all the old guys carrying the team. Caufield and Slaf aren't scoring that much. It's basically just Suzuki and the trio of old guys they were waiting to buy out - Anderson-Dvorak-Gallagher. The forwards that Hughes/Gorton have brought in have done jack shit lately.
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Caufield has 37g and Montreal is literally carried by their youngsters. Laine is their oldest guy in the top 6 (PPG) and he's 26.
That being said, Gallagher has been very impressive lately. His line has been dominant and certainly a big reason for their success. We'll see how Demidov changes the whole dynamic.
 
Last 3 games after tomorrow:

Ottawa Faces Flyers, Chicago (2nd of back to back), Carolina (2nd of back to back)

Montreal Faces Toronto, Chicago, Carolina.
 
Boud said:
Last 3 games after tomorrow:

Ottawa Faces Flyers, Chicago (2nd of back to back), Carolina (2nd of back to back)

Montreal Faces Toronto, Chicago, Carolina.
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Schennanigans said:
very interesting if Montreal wins tomorrow
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drama.jpg
 
Divine said:
Sure, but technically Montreal can also get the tiebreaker over Ottawa by the end of the season. So they don't necessarily have to pass them in points to overtake them until Ottawa clinches the tiebreaker.
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Regulation wins. Ottawa 33 , Montreal 29.

Montreal would have to win their last 4 games in regulation and Ottawa can’t win a game in regulation for them to have the tie breaker. It’s a very unlikely situation.
 
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frederixx said:
So after tonight, with a win in regulation in their next 4 games, Montreal is in and the east is set (teams can still move up and down of course)
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By my count they just need 1 point

Opps I didn't see Columbus had 81 points with 4 games left
 
Montreal just needs to get 1 point tonight to officially put us Rangers fans out of our misery. Hope it happens, because the Rangers have no business making the playoffs and changes need to happen.
 
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