Canadien: the next few weeks will be at home, where the club is on a tear

After 22 games, the Montreal Canadiens are playing for .500. Is that enough for you? Would you like to see the Habs do more in terms of wins?

If theanswer to my second question is yes, take heart: the Senators are doing worse.

In reality, there are two ways of looking at it. You could say that the Habs aren’t playing consistently enough, and that it’s sometimes hard to watch the games…

Or you could say that the club is three points behind the Maple Leafs, the third-best team in the division and 11th-best team in the entire NHL, according to the overall standings.

Or you could say that the Habs are 10th from bottom on Tankathon, which is better than last year’s fifth-place finish. If my math teacher were Eric Girard, he might tell me that mathematically, the Habs are twice as good as last year.

Anyway, the point is this. All that to say that, at the moment, the Habs aren’t low in the standings, but that can be explained by the fact that the Sabres, Lightning and Red Wings surely aspired to more.

To help them get back on track, the Canadiens will be counting on several home games over the next few weeks. It’s always good, on paper, to win games. On paper…

Tonight’s game won’t be easy. The guys (except for Cayden Primeau, who left Columbus yesterday morning) arrived in town last night, and they’re likely to be short of legs against the big, powerful Panthers.

What’s next? Six of the first seven games of December will be at home. The Red Wings (December 2, as in 1995), Kraken (4), Nordiques Kings (7), Predators (10), Penguins (13) and Islanders (16) will all be at the Bell Centre shortly.

The CH will be in Buffalo on Saturday, December 9.

What you need to know, however, is that even if the opponents aren’t the most formidable on paper, the CH is still struggling at home this season.

The club has a 5-6 record at the Bell Centre this year… and even though some big names have come to town, it’s still not an ideal record.

On the road, it’s a 5-4-2 record, which is better.

It’s important to note that since the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, the CH hasn’t dominated at the Bell Centre. It didn’t play for .500 last year at home (good team or not, that’s something) and in 2021-2022, the club was better on the road.

• 2021-2022: 11-26-4 at home, 11-23-7 on the road
• 2022-2023: 17-21-3 at home, 14-24-3 on the road

It’s important to win games at home because fans pay big money to see the club play. It’s not right that other teams aren’t afraid to play at the Bell Centre.

But in this particular case, the CH will also have to bounce back, as Martin St-Louis’ men face long weeks away from the Bell Centre. #HolidayTradition

• December 18: Winnipeg (7:30 p.m.)
• December 21: Minnesota (8pm)
• December 22: Chicago (8:30 p.m.)
• December 28: Carolina
• December 30: Florida
• December 31: Tampa Bay
• January 2, 2024: Dallas (8pm)
• Back home afterwards

This sequence, interspersed with Christmas, won’t be easy. Some good teams are on the menu, and many plane trips are also planned for the Habs, who won’t be short of legs.

Winning games at home therefore becomes important.

In a gust

– Tough shot.

– 80 M before playing in the Majors.

– What to remember about the trip?

– Ah, the songs of the Bell Centre…[98.5 FM]

– Indeed.

Get out of your comfort zone!
https://t.co/QU8BXkrTyR

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) November 30, 2023