Following their last win, the Montreal Canadiens found themselves temporarily in a playoff spot. Let that sink in, as, as recently as Dec. 16, they were last in the entire Eastern Conference.
While that in and of itself is impressive seeing as this was a team that finished with the fifth-worst record in 2023-24, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s really how they’ve rallied in the standings over the last little while that’s been more impressive. Here are the top five facts about their playoff push that have been the most significant in that regard.
5. No Laine or Savard for Last Week
It’s true that the Canadiens were in last in the East on Dec. 16. However, they really started chipping away in the standings to start December. Starting with their 2-1 overtime win over the New York Islanders on Dec. 3, the Habs are 11-5 (playing 0.690 hockey, well above the estimated .600 they theoretically need from here on out to clinch a berth).
Related: What Canadiens Need to Do to Make 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs
It’s probably no coincidence that win marked the regular-season debut of Patrik Laine (after he had suffered a preseason knee injury). Needless to say, while Laine is renowned for his inconsistent play, he remains a game-breaking talent, with eight goals in 13 games this season (a 50-goal pace).
Laine seems to have helped rejuvenate the team from a morale standpoint, as, even without his services (flu-like symptoms) or those of defenseman David Savard (upper-body injury) since New Year’s Eve, they’ve continued to be successful three games into 2025. It represents a small sample size admittedly, but any argument they’ve simply gotten lucky (2-1) would be disingenuous.
4. Canadiens Outshooting Opponents All of a Sudden
For the longest time, the Canadiens were getting outshot, outchanced and outplayed game in and game out, arguably taking a few steps back from where they might have wanted to be as an offensive-minded team that could dictate the tempo of play. The fact that they were still kind of getting results every now and then may have led some deathly loyal fans to believe the end justifies the means. However, now that they’re quasi-consistently outshooting opponents instead, it must be said: The Habs aren’t just getting results, but they’re playing well to boot.
Since Dec. 3, the aforementioned span of 16 games, the Canadiens have outshot the opposition through regulation nine times. In the 24 games before that? Just five times, which should be cause for outright rejection of any gameplan that calls for overreliance on goaltending, not to mention cautious optimism that this is all sustainable. Put simply, they’re playing like a playoff team.
3. Canadiens Regularly Coming Back in Games to Win
Part and parcel of that is their demonstrated ability to come back in games. In six of their 11 wins since early December, they had fallen behind.
They had only come back to win twice before December: Nov. 11 against the Buffalo Sabres and Nov. 27 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Only against the Sabres did they have to come back in the third, though (and they actually held the lead after two, only to lose it and then still win).
All that to say, leading the Canadiens after two periods had been a guaranteed victory. Since the start of December, though? In the aforementioned six victories, they’ve come back in the third period four times, three times having trailed after two periods.
If you really wanted to, you could speak to how having to come back speaks to a lack of dominance, but no one’s accusing the Canadiens of being dominant, just unabashedly, well, “good,” based on their recent win-loss record, which is in turn based on a lot of factors to be clear, including their ability to consistently find ways to get back in games.
2. Dobes Earns Two of the Victories Upon Debuting
One of those times they trailed after two only to win was notoriously against the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 4. Of note, backup Jakub Dobes was in net in the second half of a set of back-to-back games. Granted they only won in a shootout after coming back from a mere single-goal deficit. Still, all things taken into account, including the quality of competition, it was one of their better games and a further sign this team is entering the next stage of the rebuild into sustained competitiveness.
It was also a sign the Canadiens and head coach Martin St. Louis are regaining confidence in their backup. Assuming the Habs start to deploy Dobes the right way, that can only mean good things for Montembeault’s effectiveness when the games mean more and more in March and April. Of course, Dobes, who’s now 2-0, also won his debut, historically shutting out the Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers on Dec. 28, marking a hugely successful start to his NHL career. Without his impressive performances to date, the Habs aren’t where they are in the standings. That’s a fact. Without a backup in whom they can rely, the playoffs would remain a pipedream instead of something they can now realistically shoot for over the last half of the season.
As a goalie who’s never played more than 41 games in any one professional season, Montembeault’s hardly the workhorse the Canadiens have made him out to be so far in 2024-25. Presumably having opted to lean on him heavily out of a lack of confidence in Dobes’ predecessor, Cayden Primeau, the Canadiens have played him 32 times (31 starts) in 40 games.
That’s 66 games over a full season, which are Carey Price numbers. Let’s be honest, as admirable as Montembeault’s rise to starter status has been, that would kind of overstate his skill level. As a team, the goal should be to soar past the ceilings of Canadiens teams of the past which tended to overrely on Price or their goaltending in general anyway. If their unexpected run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final taught Habs fans anything, it’s really how much further the team had to go to regularly compete with the league’s elite, in losing 4-1 to a much more complete Tampa Bay Lightning squad.
1. Four Wins Against Four Recent Stanley Cup Champions
It would be one thing if the Canadiens were only beating teams below them in the standings, which was largely the case so start this recent stretch of decent play. However, since the holiday break, the Habs have beaten the Lightning, Avalanche, Panthers, and Vegas Golden Knights, the last four Stanley Cup champions, who are each holding down playoff spots as we speak.
The Canadiens can also add to that list, facing the Washington Capitals (2018) this coming Friday night. They’ve also beaten the St. Louis Blues (2019) this season, but, for this piece’s purposes, a win over the Caps is more significant seeing as a) the Habs beat the Blues back in October and b) the Blues aren’t currently holding down a playoff spot, while the 26-10-4 Caps are the best team in the Eastern Conference right now.
Furthermore, it’s not like the Canadiens have been beating these teams every once in a while. Again, these wins have come over a short period of time during which the team has shown significant improvement. That alone should discount the notion it’s simply luck powering them to victory. Based on all the factors above, it’s getting increasingly difficult to bet against them.
