Even though their team lost in overtime tonight to the hated Boston Bruins Habs fans everywhere breathed a huge sigh of relief tonight as the stumbling Canadiens nabbed the single point they needed to clinch a playoff spot in the NHL's tight Eastern Conference. By sneaking into the playoffs on game 81 of the season the Canadiens avoided a massive disaster. There would have been riots in the streets if the storied franchise had missed the playoffs in their centennial season. No doubt Gary Bettman and the rest of the NHL brass are happy as well as the Canadiens are one of the biggest cash cows in the league, and they can use all the money they can get in this difficult economic environment.

The game itself was a possible preview of a first round playoff match between the Bruins and Canadiens and players on both sides played as though the playoffs had already started, neither side giving an inch as the 2 teams racked up 76 minutes in penalties between them. Former Hab Mark Recchi played the spoiler, scoring the OT winner and picking up a pair of assists against his old team. Montreal defenseman Mathieu Schneider, who had been expected to miss the rest of the year with a shoulder injury, was back in the lineup and scored a key goal to stake Montreal to a 4-3 lead late in the second period. Giant Bruins rearguard Zdeno Chara tied it up early in the third to set the table for Recchi's OT heroics.

The New York Rangers and the Florida Panthers, both embroiled in a three way race with the Habs for the final 2 playoff spots, won their respective games tonight. The Florida Panthers wound up being the odd man out as they were officially eliminated by Montreal's single point. The Habs and Rangers finished the night tied with 93 points, and playoff seeding will not be decided until game 82 of the regular season. Montreal and New York will play either the Boston Bruins or the Washington Capitals depending on how things wind up. At this point Habs fans don't care who their team faces, they are just glad they'll get to see some playoff hockey...one round anyways.

 

written by admin \\ tags: Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, NHL playoffs

It was a huge night in the NHL's Eastern Conference playoff race, most particularly for the teams sitting in 7th to 9th place. Going into tonight's action the New York Rangers sat tied for 8th place with the Florida Panthers, and were 3 points back of the 7th place Montreal Canadiens. With Florida also in action tonight the Rangers knew the game was a must win if they didn't want to slip out of a playoff spot. Well, the Rangers delivered tonight. Unfortunately for fans of the Canadiens and the Panthers, their clubs did not.

The Rangers got 2 goals from Captain Clutch himself, Chris Drury, and goalie Henrik Lundqvist stopped 24 of 25 shots as the Blueshirts handled the Habs 3-1. Montreal goalie Carey Price, back for his first game after missing time with the flu, showed no signs of rust after the layoff. He was by far the busier of the two goalies, and stopped 41 shots in a losing cause. Unfortunately Price didn't have much in the way of offensive help with Mathieu Dandenault the only Hab to solve Lundqvist. The Canadiens are understandably reeling following the devastating losses of Andrei Markov and Mathieu Schneider, who both went down with long-term injuries on the weekend. Montreal is going to have to quickly figure out how to play without their top 2 offensive defensemen or they will quickly be dispatched from the playoffs (assuming they get there in the first place).

The Florida Panthers could have pulled to within 1 point of the Habs with a win against the Flyers tonight, but though they played a desperate game they lost a squeaker to the Philadelphia Flyers, falling 2-1. With the loss things are looking bleak indeed for the Panthers, who must win their final 2 games and hope the Habs and Rangers don't win any more games. If the Panthers don't make the playoffs their decision not to move coveted puck-moving defenseman Jay Bouwmeester at this year's trade deadline will look terrible indeed. Set to become an unrestricted free agent this July 1st, Bouwmeester can walk away with the Panthers seeing nothing in return.

The last few days of the regular season will be rife with drama, and these games are like bonus playoff matches for rabid NHL hockey fans. Grab some beer, get settled in your favorite recliner and enjoy the action!

 

written by admin \\ tags: Florida Panthers, Jay Bouwmeester, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, NHL playoff race