By virtue of the Detroit Red Wings’ loss to the Minnesota Wild this afternoon, the Montreal Canadiens have clinched a playoff spot, set to head to the post-season for the second consecutive season.
With the loss, the Red Wings can now achieve a maximum of 98 points, two fewer than the 100 the Canadiens improved to last night in New Jersey. They were the only team currently outside the playoff picture that had a mathematical possibility to pass Montreal, because the Philadelphia Flyers, who also have the chance to hit 100 points, would lose out to Montreal on the first tiebreaker of regulation wins.
The final step of the process being taken by the Red Wings is appreciated, but the Canadiens did the majority of the work during an eight-game winning streak, seven of those coming in regulation, to make the actual clinching event a formality. From being in a tight wild-card race just two weeks ago, they’re now comfortably in a top three seed in the Atlantic Division, holding a six-point edge over the Boston Bruins, and sitting just two back of the Tampa Bay Lightning for top spot in the group.
Montreal is also four points back of the Carolina Hurricanes who occupy the top spot in the Eastern Conference, and Jakub Dobeš shared after the shootout win in New Jersey that catching the Hurricanes is the team’s goal for the end of the season. The Canadiens swept the season series versus Carolina with three regulation wins, which set up the current situation where catching them is possible. With no more head-to-head matches, all the Canadiens can do is win the majority of the remaining six games and hope Carolina falters along the way.
However, there is a battle with the current leader of the Atlantic coming up, as Montreal will host Tampa Bay on Thursday. Winning that game makes taking the division more likely, if they can focus on taking care of business in a couple of games before then, the first being a rematch with the Devils this evening.
