‘Big point’: Habs inch closer to playoffs

TORONTO – Martin St. Louis was disappointed with the result.

The Canadiens head coach also took a lot of positives — and a crucial point in the standings — from Saturday’s tough ask at Scotiabank Arena.

Montreal fell 1-0 in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second game of a back-to-back to inch closer to the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot.

The Canadiens (39-31-10) sit on 88 points, five clear of the Columbus Blue Jackets (37-33-9), with two games left on their schedule.

“I’m really proud of the way the guys played,” St. Louis said. “It’s a big point for our group, and not just the way we got the point.

“We got to fight a little bit … played with a lot of heart.”

Montreal, which lost 5-2 to the Senators in Ottawa on Friday, could have secured that playoff berth with a regulation victory against its Original Six rival Saturday, but will now watch Sunday’s matchup between Columbus and the Washington Capitals.

A loss of any kind for the Blue Jackets, who have three games left in the regular season, would punch the Canadiens’ playoff ticket for the first time since 2021 — and clinch their first post-season appearance in a non-pandemic season since 2016-17.

Montreal’s next opportunity to lock things up on its own terms will come Monday at the Bell Centre against the lowly Chicago Blackhawks.

The Canadiens have been going through a rebuild, but that process has been fast-tracked in 2024-25 for a group that didn’t get a much respect in pre-season predictions.

“We had a lot of belief coming into the season that we could be in this position,” Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said. “Most people really didn’t see that. It’s nice to be in this hunt for the last wild-card spot, and hopefully we can secure that.”

The Canadiens were outshot 35-15 by the Atlantic Division-leading Leafs, but directed 57 pucks towards Toronto goaltender Anthony Stolarz on a night where the home side registered 20 blocks before Mitch Marner scored in the extra period

Montreal defenceman Mike Matheson said it’s nice to be competing in meaningful hockey games down the stretch after a “frustrating” couple of years.

“As a competitor, there’s nothing better than playing for something,” he said. “We came into this season with a goal. To be able to get close to it and really have a shot at it is exciting.”

Fellow blueliner Kaiden Guhle said apart from the prize of making the post-season, the crop of young players in Montreal’s locker room — himself included — are getting valuable experience as part of this run.

“I got to play a lot of playoff hockey in junior,” said the 23-year-old. “That’s where you learn a lot. Playing those big, meaningful games. Playing playoff hockey does a lot for your development.

“To kind of see what it takes to win … it’s huge for us to be playing these games.”

HARD KNOCKS

Guhle dropped the gloves with Toronto forward Max Domi in the second period after he rocked Bobby McMann along the boards and thumped John Tavares with a clean check in quick succession.

Domi was assessed an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct following the spirited tilt at centre ice.

MAN DOWN

The Leafs were forced to dress just 17 skates — one short of a full roster — because of injury issues and salary cap constraints.

Toronto was without defencemen Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson because of undisclosed ailments, while centre David Kampf (upper-body) was also unavailable.

Head coach Craig Berube said post-game the team would be calling up blueliner Dakota Mermis from the American Hockey League for Sunday’s road test against the Carolina Hurricanes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2025.

&copy 2025 The Canadian Press