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The standings are extremely tight in the Eastern Conference, with all teams except the New York Rangers playing above .500.
And even though there is an eight-point gap between the two teams in the playoff picture (Montreal and Boston) and their closest pursuers, they should not be counted out of the race.
Eight points can be made up quickly, especially when the teams behind in the standings have games in hand.
In fact, the Columbus Blue Jackets caught up with this group of pursuers last night by winning their fourth straight game, defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 in the only game of the night.
Charlie Coyle stood out with a hat trick and an assist, contributing a point on each of the Blue Jackets' goals.
Another night, another hat trick!
Charlie Coyle scores the 31st hat trick in the NHL in January! #CBJ pic.twitter.com/fvrI8fWNSg
— NHL (@NHL) January 31, 2026
In short, nothing is decided yet, and so the Montreal Canadiens must remain very consistent and focused if they want to make the playoffs.
One factor that could contribute to the Habs' focus between now and the end of the season is allowing fewer shots per game to their opponents.
However, surprisingly, based on the Habs' statistics this season, we should hope that their opponents get at least 25 shots or more per game.
In fact, the Canadiens have a better record when they allow a lot of shots than when they allow few, according to statistics reported by Jean-Charles Lajoie on JiC earlier this week.
These stats are from before the game against the Avalanche, who had 29 shots on the habs, adding another win to this statistic.
As we can see, the Canadiens have won more games when they allowed 25 or more shots on goal this season, with a very positive record of 21-8-5, which is good for 47 points out of a possible 68.
And when the habs allow 24 shots or fewer to their opponents, well, things go downhill with a .500 record after 20 games.
What's more, the same observation holds true when looking at the individual statistics of the Habs' three goalies this season.
The three goalies, especially Jacob Fowler, who has never won a game with fewer than 25 shots against, have a better record when the opponent gets 25 or more shots.
In short, it's a pretty crazy observation, and with such a large sample size, it's clearly not a coincidence or mere chance.
There really is a correlation, and so the Habs win more games when their opponents get a lot of shots.
Is this due to the team putting in more effort when the opponent is threatening? Is it due to the goalies performing less well when they are less tested?
Both may be true, but what is clear is that the habs manage to win a lot of games where they do not limit their opponent's chances as much.
