The red-hot Montreal Canadiens technically can’t clinch a playoff spot on Tuesday, but they do have an opportunity to just about eliminate one of their closest pursuers for the last postseason berth in the Eastern Conference.
Winners of five straight, the Canadiens will try to take a giant leap toward clinching the second and final wild-card spot when they host the Detroit Red Wings.
Montreal (38-30-9, 85 points) entered Monday six points ahead of the New York Rangers and Detroit (36-33-7, 79 points) for the second wild-card spot.
The Red Wings will enter Tuesday with a game in hand on Montreal, but a Montreal win would put the Canadiens eight points ahead of Detroit with five games left for the Red Wings and four for the Canadiens.
“Every game is the biggest one going forward,” said Montreal forward Cole Caufield. “You’ve got to find a way.”
As much as Montreal knows the playoff math, Detroit also is aware that a win in regulation against the Canadiens is pretty much a must — especially since the Red Wings are playing five of their last six regular-season games on the road.
The game at Montreal starts a three-game road trip that also takes the Red Wings to Florida and Tampa Bay.
While not quite as hot as Montreal recently, the Red Wings have also surged. They’ve won three of their last four games and registered a point in the lone loss during that stretch, a 2-1 overtime defeat at St. Louis.
“We’re finding ways to get points,” said Detroit head coach Todd McLellan. “It doesn’t have to be pretty and sometimes it won’t be. But at the end of the day, the points are important.”
Both teams have ridden good goaltending in their respective stretches of success.
Veteran Detroit goalie Cam Talbot has given up just seven goals over the team’s last four games and made 97 saves over the team’s past three.
“Obviously we have to keep taking care of our business,” Talbot said. “I’d be lying if I said we were not looking at scores around the league. But at the same time, we have to continue to focus on what we can control, which is our game.”
For Montreal, Sam Montembeault allowed two goals or fewer in a four-game stretch before backup Jakub Dobes made 36 saves in a 2-1 win Sunday at Nashville.
“I’m happy where we are at,” Dobes said. “We are a good group of guys and I feel like the personal achievements have to go aside. We just have to try and win as a group. That’s everyone’s mentality and I feel like it’s working for us.”
This will be the fourth and final meeting of the regular season between the teams. Montreal swept a back-to-back set on Dec. 20 and 21 (winning 4-3 at Detroit and 5-1 at Montreal), while the Red Wings earned a 4-2 home win over the Canadiens on Jan. 23.
–Field Level Media
