The Montreal Canadiens have hit a wall of late and an Atlantic Division title, which once seemed inevitable, is not exactly a certainty (Ottawa is eight back with four games in hand, Toronto is nine back with three in hand).
In this edition of the hotstove we discuss whether this is just a bump in the road or if another team will steal the division from Montreal's grasp.
Todd Cordell
Montreal has dealt with a lot of injury problems, and Carey Price hasn't been himself of late, but I think the Canadiens will be fine.
They're finally getting healthy with the likes of Alex Galchenyuk, Andrei Markov and co. returning to the lineup. Brendan Gallagher is still out but the team is getting close to full-strength.
The Habs are in a soft division and, despite their recent struggles, they still lead the Atlantic in Corsi For%, Scoring Chance For%, and Price is Price. A lot of teams would kill to be in the shape Montreal is right now.
They're a Canadian team, and things haven't been smooth of late, so things have been blown out of proportion. I'd be surprised if they won't hold onto the division lead.
Peter Tessier The thing with Montreal is they can still win this division but it might depend if GM Marc Bergevin makes a move. Ottawa and Toronto look to be the challengers but are they equipped and ready to put it all together?
This event, Montreal lagging, is an annual thing. Fans get uppity with Therrien, cynical of the GM and then the team smoothes things out. I think they hold onto the Division but not without a bit of drama coming from below and that might come from Florida now that they are healthy.
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