With the last change on Monday night, Dominique Ducharme created a defensive line and played them until the Habs were behind and running out of time to get back in the game. The Leafs defended well in the third and that was the story as the Habs coached themselves to a 2-1 series deficit, losing the game by that same score.
Thursday’s series opener was a typical playoff game where both teams battled in the corners and the physicality was absolutely ramped up. While the Leafs had more scoring chances, they were faced with beating the Habs star in Carey Price who was on top of his game. The result was a defensive battle that saw the Habs come out ahead 2-1 to take the ultra-important 1-0 series lead.
The Habs had one line really rolling but it was enough to clinch their playoff position within the division as they fell 4-3 in overtime to Edmonton on Monday. With one game left, they still have a shot, although a slim one, at a 3rd place finish so the last game isn’t completely meaningless.
The Habs were nowhere to be found to start Thursday’s game in Toronto and they weren’t helped by a completely rattled Cayden Primeau as the Leafs took a 4-0 lead early and never looked back, skating away with a 5-2 victory.
It looked like the Habs expected a ten-minute flurry to start the game was going to be enough to win against the Senators on Wednesday night. Ottawa had other ideas as they survived that stretch and then destroyed the Habs for the other 50 minutes on their way to a relatively easy 5-1 victory.
The Habs had great moments stopped by Jack Campbell and shaky moments where Jake Allen bailed them out. In the end, they found a way to score a goal in the last minute and then let Cole Caufield do his magic at 3-on-3 to earn a third consecutive come from behind victory with a 3-2 win on Monday night over Toronto, allowing them to catch the Jets in the North Division standings in the process.
In what can be described as their best team effort in a long time, the Habs were able to erase two two-goal deficits to take a stranglehold on the last North Division playoff spot with a 5-3 win over the Jets Friday night.
It wasn’t the most entertaining game of the year, but considering the importance of the points at hand, any way of getting the win is welcomed. The Habs were on again, off again on Monday night and played with fire in the third but ultimately showed a gutsy effort to pull out a 2-1 win against the Flames in Cole Caufield’s NHL debut.
The Habs inexplicably came out without energy against Calgary on Friday night and managed to stay in the game for 55 minutes thanks to Jake Allen and Tyler Toffoli. However, the Flames were able to skate away with the 4-2 victory.
The Habs were the better team for 55 minutes, but a costly Jonathan Drouin penalty almost sent them reeling. They hung on after playing an inspired game to beat the Oilers 4-3 in a game that really did not deserve to be this close of a final score.