With a very tough five-game road trip coming out of the Christmas break, the Montreal Canadiens weren’t expected to emerge with a great record. Against all odds, they won the toughest of their matchups during that road trip, culminating in a 2-1 shootout win over the Colorado Avalanche last night. Their record on the trip improved to 4-1-0, giving them a fantastic start to the year 2025.
Kent Hughes said that he wanted to be in the mix this season, and this road trip has put them precisely there.
With recent wins over Vegas, Tampa Bay, Florida, and now Colorado, the Habs have beaten the last four Stanley Cup winners, and done so in their barns for good measure. More importantly, not one of these wins has been of the variety where their goaltender should be indicted for theft thereafter. These are all strong rosters, currently occupying playoff spots, and the Habs beat each of them with strong collective play.
Now, they’re in the mix alright. They are one point out of the final wild card spot, currently occupied by the Ottawa Senators. A month ago they were deep in the basement, but some drastic improvements to their five-on-five play have seen them climb their way out, and now they look like a team intent on not returning.
As far as expectations go, the fan base still really doesn’t have any. Fans now have some hope of them sniffing a playoff spot, but I doubt that anyone will be crestfallen if they come up short. They have nine games in the month of April this year, and the goal was for those games to actually mean something. If they keep playing like they are right now, some of those games will have playoff atmospheres, because there will be a lot to play for.
And who knows? It hasn’t been that long since the Habs showed us what the underdogs can do if they sneak into the playoffs.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. The Habs have now finished their road trip, and we’ll be back when they make their return to Bell Centre ice on Monday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
