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Rating The Tank: The RHP Scores Three Edition

In what could be dubbed the Toilet Bowl between two teams at the bottom of the NHL standings, Saturday night’s game between the Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets ended up being a wildly fun affair. With 10 total goals and a rookie hat trick in one period, there is plenty to love about a Canadiens win!

The Good

Rafaël Harvey-Pinard has got that dawg in him, folks. The rookie forward notched a hat trick in the second period and moved into the top 10 for goal-scoring among rookies as he tallied his 10th, 11th, and 12th goals of the year. He had been a star with the Laval Rocket since joining the professional ranks and has now made the best possible argument that he should be an everyday player with the Canadiens next season.

While Harvey-Pinard’s hat trick was a huge moment in this game, a four-point night from Nick Suzuki is right there with it. Suzuki is chaining together multi-point efforts and establishing firmly once again that he is the 1C for a long future with the Canadiens.

It goes without saying, but the straw that continues to stir the Canadiens’ drink is Mike Matheson. We saw another fantastic effort with the top defenceman on the team creating chances seemingly out of nowhere.

The Bad

Well, they won.

Based on how Columbus played and with how bad the San Jose Sharks have been lately this game seemingly put any hopes of top-two odds at Bedard to rest. It was always going to require a real effort to bottom out that hard, and even with several missing players, the Habs have too much quality to sink all the way to the bottom.

Lottery Movement

The Canadiens maintain the fifth spot in the race for the first overall pick after a win over Columbus.

The Flyers mini hot streak has put a solid cushion between the two sides, however Arizona has lost three straight and is just two points from the Habs. Anaheim and Chicago also continue to lose without much issue, with the Canadiens likely needing a big helping hand to catch either down the final stretch of games.

Tank Score

8/10

It’s hard to be mad at a game like this where a young guy gets a hat trick and the team captain records four points. A loss doesn’t change their lottery spot all that much, and to be honest, losing to a team that is much worse than you would sting a fair bit.

Coming up next for the Habs is a trip to one of their least favourite places, Buffalo, on Monday night. They then follow that up with a game against Philly on Tuesday in another game having a huge implication on lottery odds for both teams.

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