Intra-divisional success has always been crucial to a playoff berth, but this season it becomes even more relevant given the improvements in the Southeast division, the parity in the Atlantic, and tighter competition in the Northeast.

The emergence of Carolina, Washington and Florida in the Southeast, coupled with the success of the Rangers, Penguins, Flyers, and Devils in the Atlantic, means less spots up for grabs for Northeast teams.

Yes, the format changed last year, and divisional rivals meet six, instead of eight times per season, but each meeting represents the easiest opportunity to secure a playoff spot, while knocking a rival further from the picture. Consider that the Northeast division will likely be much tighter than it was last season, with the improvement of the Leafs, and Ottawa and Buffalo represented as dark horses, and the expectation that Boston might not be quite as successful as they were—Montreal is completely unpredictable given the amount of turnover in the locker-room, from coaches to players.

Note that a 3rd place finish in the Northeast would almost certainly guarantee a failure to clinch a playoff berth. In fact, a second place finish in the Northeast almost saw the Canadiens miss the playoffs last season, as they narrowly edged out the 3rd place Panthers from the Southeast division for the final spot—and the 3rd place team in the Northeast was Buffalo, finishing 2-points behind Florida.

Those rivalries in the Northeast that have traditionally been among the strongest in the league, take on a highly personal nature this season:

The Grabovski-Kostitsyn battle that marked last year’s rivalry with the Leafs won’t hold a candle to what it’ll be when Mike Komisarek steps back into the Bell Centre for three games this year.

If it’s even possible for the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry to be more heated, be assured that the addition of Steve Begin to the Bruins roster makes it exactly that. Compounded with an embarrassing loss to the Bs in the playoffs, and the additions made to the Canadiens who won’t be afraid to challenge Lucic, and Thornton, and let’s not forget about the goaltending battle… these will be the most heated games of the season.

The Ottawa Senators added the one player from Montreal who terrorized them each time these rivals met in the last few years, and the motivation for the Canadiens to beat Kovalev has to be through the roof.

And then there’s Buffalo, where the rivalry isn’t quite as intense, but they represent a dangerous trap—in that they are easy to underestimate.

On paper, the Canadiens should be able to finish ahead of the Leafs, Sens, and Sabres. Doing so would give them their greatest opportunity to make the playoffs. They will need to have winning records against all three teams though if they hope to guarantee themselves a spot, otherwise the games against the Western conference, and those against teams from other divisions in the East take on much greater meaning. And given that the Canadiens are less familiar with those opponents than those in their division, there's an influx of pressure should they fare poorly against the Leafs, Sens, Sabres, and Bruins.

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