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Habs : more than 50% chance of making the playoffs with a win tonight

Never has the Montreal Canadiens been so close to the playoffs since the beginning of their rebuild, about four years ago.

The Habs are in a position to make the playoffs now, and this is in the middle of March with 13 games left in the season.

The Canadiens are the best team in the National Hockey League since the Four Nations tournament, and therefore, the team’s chances of making the playoffs only keep increasing with each game since the tournament.

With every win, we all start to believe more and more, and it’s the same for prediction and betting sites.

So go the mathematical chances of the Habs making the playoffs, so goes the hope of the fans to see their team in the playoffs.

In short, the Habs’ chances of making the playoffs are gradually increasing, and becoming more and more interesting with the team’s wins, but especially with the losses of the closest competitors to the Habs.

In fact, with the Blue Jackets’ loss last night, the Habs’ chances of making the playoffs could rise above 50% with a win tonight against the Colorado Avalanche.

And no, you’re not dreaming, the Canadiens could wake up tomorrow morning with more than a 50% chance of participating in the NHL spring tournament.

Whether it’s a regular win or not, if the Habs get two points tonight against the Avalanche, they will go from 44.6% to around 55% chance of making the playoffs.

(Credit: MoneyPuck.com)

Obviously, this won’t be an easy task for the Habs, given that the Avalanche is a very big club that’s doing very well lately.

The Habs’ chances could also drop significantly with a loss, as we can see in the white box on the MoneyPuck.com website photo, where the first column represents the current chances of making the playoffs for each team.

Habs’ chances in % according to different scenarios against Colorado:

  • Habs’ win in regulation: 55.55%
  • Habs’ win in overtime: 54.95%
  • Habs’ loss in regulation: 35.18%
  • Habs’ loss in overtime: 44.96%

In short, this is a very big game tonight again for Martin St-Louis’ team, and this could be the case until the Habs are either qualified for the playoffs or eliminated.

In the end, whether the Habs qualify or not, this team has given us incredible emotions that we haven’t experienced in a long time.

The Canadiens keep us on the edge of our seat with each of their games now, and they give us reasons to believe in the playoffs, much earlier in the rebuild than we could have thought.

This is a very beautiful team we have in Montreal now with a very tight-knit group, and we should enjoy it.

Overtime

– The Rocket will be back in action today. Will David Reinbacher score again?

– Indeed.

– To watch tonight.

– Already a demotion for Laughton in Toronto.

– Amazing.

– To follow closely.

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Ivan Demidov on the top-6 of the SKA for his last game of the regular season

The saga continues in the Ivan Demidov case with SKA Saint-Petersburg.

Seriously, you’d think it’s a toxic love affair, given how much on-again, off-again there is.

One day, SKA is in love with Demidov and plays him 20 minutes on the top-6, but the next day, SKA hates Demidov and leaves him on the sidelines, despite him being the team’s top scorer.

In short, it’s a completely ridiculous situation that has been going on since the start of the season.

Unfortunately, this situation doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon, as today Demidov will play on the top-6 for SKA in their last game of the regular season.

However, Demidov was left out of the recent SKA game (a game lost by SKA) because he needed to “get back in shape,” according to his coach Roman Rotenberg.

Demidov will play on the left wing of the second line with Evgeny Kuznetsov.

So, the habs prospect went from not being in shape and being left out to playing on the top-6 with the star player of SKA, who officially returns from injury today after a month’s absence.

It seems that Rotenberg liked the chemistry between Demidov and Kuznetsov before the injury, and therefore, for his return to the game, the head coach wanted to reform the duo.

In any case, it’s a pretty special change of heart in just two days, which once again shows how Ivan Demidov is being managed by Rotenberg, which is really ridiculous.

Playing yo-yo with a 19-year-old is really ridiculous.

In short, Demidov will play today against Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod’s defenseman Bogdan Konyushkov (another habs prospect) in what will be SKA’s last game of the regular season.

After this game, we may find out who SKA’s opponent will be in the first round of the playoffs, which will give us a better idea of Demidov’s near future, because if SKA is quickly eliminated, Demidov may end up playing in the MHL, the American League of the KHL.

Overtime

– Indeed.

– Wow. A former fourth-line player in the NHL has just broken the record for most goals in a season in the KHL. Note that in his career, Leivo has scored 42 goals in 265 games in the NHL, and now he has scored 49 goals in 61 games in the KHL.

– What do you think?

– Well done!

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Michael Hage: his season is over

About two weeks ago, Michael Hage and the University of Michigan were eliminated from their conference tournament by Penn State University.

Hage’s season was not over yet, as he was waiting to find out the fate of his university, whether it would be selected among the 16 teams that will participate in the Frozen Four tournament.

To do so, Michigan had to hope that there would be no surprises last night, and that the top-ranked teams would win.

Well, unfortunately for Hage and the University of Michigan (ranked 15th), last night, the University of Quinnipiac (ranked 13th) lost 3-2 in overtime to Cornell University (ranked 17th).

With this win, Cornell advanced to the ECAC conference final and eliminated Michigan.

Therefore, Michael Hage’s season is officially over, given that the final of his division (ECAC) features two lower-ranked teams, namely Cornell University (17th) and Clarkson University (20th).

Notably, Clarkson University is led by Jean-François Houle, the former head coach of the Laval Rocket, who left the team to join Clarkson after signing a new contract with the Rocket.

Briefly, kudos to Houle, who seems to have done a good job with his team to bring them to the division final.

If they were to win against Cornell, Clarkson would qualify for the Frozen Four tournament.

In short, to get back to Michael Hage, he will not be part of the Frozen Four tournament, as the 16 teams are represented by the six division champions and a selection of the top ten non-champion teams.

This will be a tournament to watch, as Jacob Fowler will participate with Boston College.

As for Hage, I don’t think we should expect him to sign with the Habs, even if he was named Rookie of the Year in the Big Ten.

Another season in the NCAA would be highly beneficial for him, as was the case for Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson.

Hage will be a good player in the NHL, we just need to be patient and wait another season.

Overtime

– Markstrom will need to regain his form if the Devils want to make an impact in the playoffs.

– Well said.

– Here is the Formula 1 ranking after the Australian Grand Prix and the China sprint. The China Grand Prix will take place tonight.

– Here is what the starting grid will look like for this race.

– To be continued.

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Good news for the Habs: Columbus continues to fall out of the playoff race

It’s been a long time since the Montreal Canadiens’ fans have been watching the playoffs race so closely.

In recent years, it’s been more about the chances of getting the first overall pick that were being checked regularly, and in a religious manner after every night in the National Hockey League.

But this season, things are completely different, as the Habs are right in the heart of the playoffs race, which means everyone is watching the standings in a religious manner, but this time from top to bottom and not the other way around.

In short, every night in the NHL is important to watch, as almost every night, a direct opponent of the Habs in the playoffs race is in action.

And last night, despite there being only one game on the schedule, it was a game to watch, as the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are just three points behind the Habs, were in action.

What’s even more amazing for the Habs is that the Penguins’ winning goal was scored by a 28-year-old Montrealer, Bokondji Imama.

This is Imama’s second career goal, and his first with the Penguins.

In short, a guy from Montreal came to render great services to the Habs.

Also worth noting is that Imama dropped the gloves with Mathieu Olivier.

And from Columbus’ side, well, things continue to fall apart, as the Blue Jackets are now on a six-game losing streak, during which they’ve scored only seven goals.

And if we look at the entire month of March, the Blue Jackets have only two wins in ten games.

In the standings, this gives the Habs a nice priority over the Blue Jackets, as Martin St-Louis’ team has three more points than Columbus, and also has a game in hand.

(Credit: NHL.com)

In short, Habs fans can only rejoice at seeing a direct opponent in the playoffs race take itself out of the competition with such a horrible streak.

Finally, the most dangerous opponent for the Habs right now is the New York Islanders, who could climb into the playoffs as early as today if they win against the Calgary Flames this afternoon, and the Habs lose in regulation to the Colorado Avalanche tonight.

Every night is therefore crucial right now, and the Habs can’t afford to make any mistakes or slip up.

The Blue Jackets are proof of that, as the Habs could never afford such a losing streak.

Overtime

– The Blue Jackets’ captain, Boone Jenner, scored his first goal of the season last night. He had missed almost the entire season due to an injury.

– Here are the top scorers from last night.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– On the schedule today in the NHL: 14 games.

(Credit: Google/NHL)
(Credit: Google/NHL)
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Chantal Machabée suffered a serious injury

Big news in the Montreal Canadiens’ entourage.

In the latest episode of Tellement Hockey, while talking about Kaiden Guhle, Martin Leclerc deviated from the subject to announce that Chantal Machabée should soon be “back in the game” and later specified that she had to undergo surgery due to a serious injury.

The excerpt about Chantal Machabée is at the 35th minute of the episode.

In short, it happened on January 10, when the Habs were on the road in Washington.

There was a rare snowstorm outside and the VP of communications fell heavily on the ice, affecting tendons.

She came back briefly, for about a week or two (including in Utah when Emil Heineman was hit by a car), but she started having trouble walking and eventually decided to consult, which led to surgery.

Currently, she is wearing two casts, which can be intimidating…

At the time of the incident, the Habs were going through a tough period where things were not going well.

When she had to leave the entourage, she told the players they would see her again in the playoffs.

According to Martin Leclerc, the players started laughing, as the playoffs were not in the picture at that time.

But now, with the excellent current streak the Habs are going through, there’s a good chance the players will see their VP of communications in the playoffs.

Moreover, Leclerc also mentioned that the players and Martin St-Louis regularly call her to check on her news.

This shows the good chemistry within the Habs.

The team at DansLesCoulisses.com wishes Chantal Machabée a speedy recovery.

Overtime

Recently, we learned that a fan (Lucie Lachance) wanted to give back a Brendan Gallagher jersey to him in tribute to his mother.

Chantal Machabée took the time to reach out to this woman to make it happen. Even with two casts after a major operation, the VP of communications takes the time to write to Lucie Lachance, who is making a remarkable gesture.

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Reinbacher scores in a loss

On this Friday evening, the Laval Rocket hosted the Cleveland Monsters at Place Bell. Cleveland, who is a divisional rival, is in the midst of a playoff push. As for the Rocket, they were trying to maintain their first-place position in the American Hockey League. To do so, Pascal Vincent once again put his trust in Cayden Primeau, who had a shutout in his last game. We were also keeping an eye on David Reinbacher, who was playing his second game since returning to the lineup.

Here is the Rocket’s lineup for the occasion:

The lineup
#GoRocket @PizzaPizzaLtd pic.twitter.com/9bJbZsxBUa
— Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) March 21, 2025

From the start of the game, Reinbacher stood out with a beautiful pass from one end of the ice to the other for Vincent Arseneau. The Quebec giant had a great chance to score but couldn’t capitalize. A good start for the Rocket, who got most of the chances early in the game. David Reinbacher impressed the crowd with a pass of about 150 feet to send Vincent Arseneau on a breakaway. Still 0-0 midway through the first period.

The whole game was a duel between Cayden Primeau and Zach Sawchenko, who both played excellent hockey in front of the net. There were no goals in the first two periods. Early in the second period, Reinbacher stood out again with a strong presence in the offensive zone. He had the puck at the point, slightly lifted the puck to get rid of his coverage, and then took a good shot at the net. The Austrian defenseman isn’t known for his offense, but we know he can come up with beautiful sequences like this.

We also saw Reinbacher being used on the powerplay on several occasions, and even though it was brief, he did very well overall. Midway through the second period, the Rocket had already taken 18 shots on Sawchenko, who was unbeatable in the first 40 minutes of play. Definitely, the start of periods seemed to be Reinbacher’s strong point. A little over three minutes into the last period, the defenseman scored with a powerful shot on reception. What a shot.

David Reinbacher gets the home crowd going. @RocketLaval | #CLEvsLAV pic.twitter.com/EGA3QaAmam
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) March 22, 2025

Adam Engstrom and Filip Mesar were involved in this goal. We can see from the replay above that Reinbacher really wanted the puck to take a shot and was right to ask for it. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true, as Cleveland scored two unanswered goals to take the lead 2-1. Shortly after Sean Farrell missed a great chance to tie the game, Florian Xhekaj and Laurent Dauphin broke away. They made a beautiful pass play for Xhekaj to score his 18th goal of the season.

After the goal, there was a commotion, which led to a roughing penalty for the giant. On the same sequence, Florian Xhekaj tied the game and took a penalty. pic.twitter.com/AJyS9tWcwK
— RDS (@RDSca) March 22, 2025

Late in the third, Sean Farrell was hit hard into the boards by Joseph Labate, leading to a skirmish in front of the Rocket bench. Logan Mailloux was kicked out, as was Farrell, who jumped on his assailant (four minutes each), while Vincent Arseneau also went to the box to serve time. Meanwhile, Roman Ahcan got four minutes, and Labate got two minutes. Right after this altercation, Rocco Grimaldi high-stuck Wotherspoon, negating the powerplay.

No other goals were scored, ending the regulation time. On to overtime. Interestingly, Reinbacher started the overtime period. It was finally the dangerous Trey Fix-Wolansky who sealed the win.

Overtime

– Primeau hadn’t allowed a goal in five consecutive periods before allowing Cleveland’s first goal in the third period. Nevertheless, before the goals allowed in the last 20 minutes, Primeau had allowed only three goals in his last five starts.

Cayden Primeau is currently having the best moments of his American Hockey League career. He has allowed only three goals in his last five games. Save percentage of .973!
— Anthony Marcotte (@anthonymarcotte) March 22, 2025

– Sean Farrell had another strong game, with a great chance in the third period that could have tied the game 2-2.
– In general, this game (especially the third period) can be described as chaotic, with all the penalties given to both teams. There were a total of 20 minor penalties in the third period. Incredible.

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A GM (anonyme) is afraid of the habs

The fans of the Canadiens seem to have confidence in Kent Hughes to manage the club in this reconstruction.

The club has a young core that is already leading the charge and several other quality prospects are coming soon, Ivan Demidov being the most exciting of all.

There are still a few holes to fill (especially a real second center), but so far, KH’s plan seems to be working.

So much so that the GM is striking fear across the NHL.

At least, there is at least one general manager (anonymous) who has revealed his fear of the Montreal club.

This is what renowned Pierre LeBrun revealed during the general managers’ meeting, as reported by Nicolas Cloutier of TVA Sports.

It’s very interesting to see a GM say he’s afraid of the Habs, for all sorts of reasons.

First, it proves that Kent Hughes knows what he’s doing with the team.

He’s made excellent trades at the right time (and at the right price) to maximize the value of his roster.

Furthermore, it also shows that the current club is already doing very well despite its young age.

The current group is performing slightly above expectations, and that’s a great sign.

The Habs are actually the best team in the NHL since the return from the 4 Nations break.

In addition to that, there’s Demidov who will be added next year, not to mention Jacob Fowler who should make the jump to the pros and Michael Hage who had a great first season in the NCAA.

We mustn’t forget guys who are flying under the radar, like Adam Engstrom, Oliver Kapanen, Bogdan Konyushkov, who could all be a surprise.

And the fact that the GM in question said this despite Kirby Dach being injured says a lot.

In short, the future of the Habs is in good hands with the current management.

Overtime

– A first career goal for Bokondji Imama.

– Mathieu Olivier, Nicolas Deslauriers, and Arber Xhekaj as the top-3 fighters in the NHL: players you don’t want to mess with.

– A real fan.

– What a shot by Kendrich Williams at the end of the quarter.

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Tony Marinaro : Patrik Laine should not play in Overtime

Montreal Habs fans were all disappointed with the result of the game against the Islanders, Thursday night.

A key point was missed due to Ilya Sorokin’s excellent performance in goal.

Lane Hutson was able to get the fans excited for a moment in Overtime when he decided to make a rush.

He skated up the left side with the puck, but he created a turnover, which led to a 2-on-1 counterattack and ultimately the winning goal by Bo Horvat.

It’s easy to blame young Hutson for the sequence, as he directly created a turnover in his own zone as a defenseman.

But that’s part of 3-on-3 Overtime, there’s a lot of space and it creates a lot of 2-on-1 situations.

However, he’s not the only one to blame, and he shouldn’t be the first one to blame.

Patrik Laine made a bad one-on-one coverage in the offensive zone by deciding to cover the opponent with the puck. Instead, he should have stayed on the right side to cover Horvat, who was coming from the back of his zone.

That’s what Tony Marinaro thinks, and he believes Laine shouldn’t play in Overtime, according to his words on the JiC show.

It’s totally logical, as Laine clearly missed his defensive coverage on that sequence, and he should be, in my opinion, the first one to blame.

However, I’m not saying Hutson doesn’t have any responsibility, as a turnover like that in his own zone often costs a lot.

It’s just that Hutson did what he had to do by skating up with the puck, knowing his captain was at the end of his shift and was tired.

It’s part of 3-on-3, and if a turnover is created, you have to make sure to cover your man, which Laine didn’t do.

We know it’s not Laine’s strength, defense, but it makes you wonder if he really has a place in 3-on-3.

Anthony Martineau, from TVA Sports, created a poll on this topic earlier today.

And the votes are very divided at the time of writing (52% on the ice, against 48% on the bench) :

The only drawback is that the Finnish player has a deadly shot, and with all the space in Overtime, he would be very useful.

And for this year, the Habs don’t necessarily have the offensive firepower to afford to leave Laine on the bench in such a situation.

Hoping he learns from his mistake and doesn’t jump on the puck carrier when someone else is already on him.

In Overtime

– Who would like to see Juraj Slafkovsky with blond hair like in this photo?

– The Pittsburgh Penguins are giving a big helping hand to the Habs by leading 3-1 against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first period.

– Another interesting plate for Sid The Kid.

– He’s on fire, that’s the least you can say.

– Some news in the MLB:

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The Canadiens will need “Mr. Saturday” tomorrow night against the Avalanche

The Canadiens will have a big challenge tomorrow night.
Why am I saying this? Because the Colorado Avalanche – which has the best scorer in the NHL – will be in town. And the Habs will have to be ready, or else… they will get washed out like it was the case for the Senators yesterday.
At the beginning of the 2nd period, the Sens were already losing by a score of 5-0!
But if the Habs want to really hold on against one of the powers of the NHL, they will also need their best players.
And here, I’m referring especially to Cole Caufield… who is excellent during Saturday games.
After all, 13 of Tit-Cole’s 33 goals were scored on that day of the week.
Why not continue in that vein tomorrow?
Saturdays bring out the best in Cole Caufield!
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 16, 2025
Cole Caufield has scored 11 goals in Montreal since the beginning of the season, unlike his 22 goals on the road.
Tomorrow, he must be present to help his team at an important moment!
The game will be presented at the Centre Bell and if we rely on the last times the Canadiens played in town, we can believe that there will be a great atmosphere.
The fans will be excited because it’s a super important meeting for the Habs in the Eastern standings.
With the other clubs that lost yesterday and who are not having much success lately, the opportunity would be perfect for the Habs to go get points on the board.
And with the crowd that will be in a frenzy, the opportunity would also be perfect to give the fans what they deserve: a big win.
Let’s recall that the Habs are the best club in the NHL since the break and that at this level, the Avalanche won’t be doing them any favors.
I said it earlier and I’ll say it again: the Canadiens must have a strong start to the game so that the fans get on board and to intimidate the Avalanche.
Because if Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and company start to do what they want on the ice… the evening will be long and tough.
Overtime
– It will sell easily, in my opinion.
Tricolore Sports is now selling a Lane Hutson chain
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) March 21, 2025
– It’s easy to point the finger at Lane Hutson for Bo Horvat’s goal, but Laine had his share of responsibility in that sequence too.
«Laine shouldn’t play in overtime»
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) March 21, 2025
– Good news for the Quebec goalie.
Former Gatineau Olympiques goalie Ève Gascon will get her first chance with the Canadian national team at the Women’s World Hockey Championship
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) March 21, 2025
– Bad news for the Golden State Warriors.
Injured in the hip, Stephen Curry will miss at least one game
— RDS (@RDSca) March 21, 2025

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Maxime Talbot : “Hutson is already in my top-5 of the best defensemen in the league”

If the 2022 draft were to be redone, there is one thing that is certain and sure.

Lane Hutson would clearly not be selected with the 62nd overall pick in the draft.

The defenseman is in his first full season in the National Hockey League and he is already the 3rd best scorer of his draft class. Only Juraj Slafkovsky (101 points) and Logan Cooley (94 points) are above him in that regard…

There are several experts and analysts who did not necessarily believe that Hutson would dominate quickly in the National Hockey League because of his size.

Because it is true that smaller defensemen often have trouble making the transition in a physical league like the National Hockey League… but that is clearly not the case with the Canadiens’ defenseman.

Hutson is so good that Maxime Talbot (NHL.com) puts him in his top-5… of the best defensemen in the league:

I would take Lane Hutson ahead of 98% of National Hockey League defensemen, even at just 20 years old. He is already in my top five of the best defensemen in the league. – Maxime Talbot

It has been a long time (since P.K. Subban?) since we have seen a defenseman with talent like Hutson in Montreal.

When you see him make sequences like that, you realize just how good he is:

If we take into account all aspects of the game (and not just offense), I may not be ready to say that Lane Hutson is one of the five best defensemen in the league.

But he has what it takes to be part of that category one day.

It’s crazy, too, when you think about it: the Canadiens had the chance to select him in the second round… and now we’re talking about him as one of the best players in the National Hockey League.

He is in the running for the Calder Trophy, he is tied (with Josh Morrissey) for 5th place for the best scorers at his position in the National Hockey League, and he is only 21 years old.

The Canadiens have a real gem in their hands.

And that’s a good thing!

Overtime

– I love it.

– Well done!

– Absolutely.

– Note: