Well, it couldn’t have gotten much closer for the Montreal Canadiens, who snuck into the playoffs by gaining a single point in their final game, an overtime loss to their rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs. But close doesn’t matter, as long as you’re in the playoffs, and the lethally fast Canadiens are there, at least for now. A matchup with either high-scoring Washington or defensively suffocating New Jersey awaits them in the first round.
Offense: D+ The Habs have the lowest offensive output of any playoff team, except Boston, and while some of that is due to the toll of injuries on their roster, the fact that 3 of their top 10 scorers are defensemen doesn’t bode well for them. Tomas Plekanec had a career year, scoring 25 goals and 70 points. Montreal’s three diminutive speedsters will need to be more effective if they want to be more than a footnote in the first round. Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez have the capacity to aggravate opposing teams, but the lack of size up front is clearly a bit of a problem for Les Habitants.
Defense: C
Montreal has some of the top scoring veteran defensemen in the league, with Andrei Markov, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Jaroslav Spacek and Roman Hamrlik all scoring 20 or more points. Big Hal Gill can be quite effective on the penalty kill, while Josh Forges leads the team’s defense with 82 games played. A distressing fact for Habs fans: only Spacek and Markov have +/- ratings above even.
Goaltending: A- With Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak, the Canadiens may have the best problem to have in hockey: two goalies capable of starting every game. Price was dubbed the future of the franchise in net early in his career, but has struggled at times under the bright lights in one of the most hockey-crazy cities in the world. Adding to Price’s struggles is the fact that Halak has been lights out, posting a 2.36 GAA, a .926 save percentage and 26 wins in 44 appearances. Halak should be the starter going away, but with the pressure in Montreal, Price better keep himself warm, because at the first sign of trouble, everyone will be calling for plan B.
Special Teams: A- If anything got the Canadiens into the playoffs, it’s their special teams. Montreal’s powerplay is the 2nd best in the entire league, behind only the Washington Capitals. Just how good is their powerplay? The Canadiens have had the fewest powerplay opportunities in the NHL, yet they have more powerplay goals than all but six of the teams currently in the playoffs. Their penalty killing gets the job done nearly 83% of the time. An opposing team’s best chance at beating the Habs will be to play them 5-on-5 and keep their speedsters in check.