The sprint to the playoffs is officially on with 16 games remaining on the Montreal Canadiens schedule. In their last ten games, the Habs are 5-3-2 which is not terrible, but its not good enough is they want to solidify a playoff spot. They have gone through a stretch where their defensive play has suffered and they are allowing a lot of goals per game. They need to tighten this up, or they may very well be sitting outside of the playoffs come game 82.
The Lineup
With the overabundance of available forwards, the lineup is a constant talking point lately with Bolduc, Texier, and Gallagher taking turns sitting out. For the most part this is not because of their play on the ice, but because these guys can't be in the press box for an extended period of time.( with the exception of Veleno who has not had a game in a while, and Laine who is not even on the roster due to the logjam).
It's a very bizarre situation
Like it or not, this has caused a distraction as the media is asking a lot of questions as to who is playing and who is not, and this must weigh heavily on the team. The confidence of the players involved in the carousel must be affected to a certain degree, even with St. Louis making sure that the lines of communication with those guys are positive, constant and clear. Given the circumstances, St. Louis is doing his best and can't be blamed.
However, the focus is less on winning games but who gets into the lineup. This is an issue and the team is going to need to push through this if they want to win game more regularly and concentrate on playing the structure which had a lot of success earlier in the year when everyone knew they were playing day in day out.
With the Red Wings tied with the Canadiens in points with 82, Boston sitting one point back at 81 and Columbus sitting just outside of a wildcard spot with 79 points, the Habs can't afford to lose hockey games. They need to lock-in if they want to be playing hockey in the spring.
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