Skip to content
Y
o
u
r
 
d
a
i
l
y
 
d
o
s
e
 
o
f
 
h
o
c
k
e
y
News

Visit of the Blackhawks on Monday night at the Bell Centre: a trap game
Mathis Therrien
Visit of the Blackhawks on Monday night at the Bell Centre: a trap game
Credit: Getty Images

When we see that the Montreal Canadiens’ chances of making the playoffs are currently at 98.7%, we shouldn’t be worried.

However, nothing is done yet, and as long as that percentage is not at 100%, everything can collapse for the Habs.

The Habs have already missed two great opportunities to secure their playoff spot this weekend, and therefore, nothing guarantees they will succeed in doing so in their last two games.

The chances are very slim, almost impossible, to see the Canadiens get overtaken by the Columbus Blue Jackets, but as long as we’re not at the finish line, many things can still happen.

The ideal scenario, even if it’s less respectable than winning to secure their spot, would be for the Blue Jackets to lose tonight at 5:30 PM against the Capitals in Washington.

This would remove all unnecessary pressure and stress from the Habs’ and their fans’ shoulders.

However, even if the Capitals are a much better team, the Blue Jackets are playing with the energy of despair, and that’s dangerous, as we saw yesterday when Columbus won 7-0 against the same Caps.

We can therefore expect the Blue Jackets to win again and force the Habs to qualify on their own.

And so, if the Blue Jackets win tonight, all eyes will be on tomorrow’s game, when the Chicago Blackhawks will visit the Bell Centre.

On paper, the Habs should win this game easily and secure their playoff spot.

However, this is clearly a trap game.

The Blackhawks have nothing to lose, while the Habs have everything to lose.

The Habs will play in front of their fans against a bad team, and Ivan Demidov will likely make his NHL debut.

This will be a highly emotional game, and it could play in favor of the Hawks, who have no pressure and are playing well right now.

They have two wins in their last four games, and last night, they put up a good fight against the best team in the NHL, eventually losing 5-4 in overtime.

(Credit: ESPN.com)
So, everything is in place for the Hawks to play spoilers and not give the Habs an easy win.

Briefly, if the Blue Jackets win tonight, the Habs must be more than ready for Monday and give it their all without taking a single fraction of a second lightly in this game against the second-worst team in the NHL.

Martin St-Louis must prepare his team as best he can, because they simply cannot afford to choke their playoff spot.


Overtime

– To follow if the Habs qualify.

– Here are the playoff qualification scenarios for the day.

– The Maple Leafs can confirm their title in the Atlantic Division tonight.

– The Winnipeg Jets can win the Presidents’ Trophy tonight with a win against the Oilers.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
More Content