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In a very tight playoff battle, it takes a winning streak to give a team a bit of a cushion in the playoff race.  The Habs did just that last week with four wins in four games although there’s still plenty to be done before they can clinch.

The Week That Was

Mar. 24: Canadiens 5, Hurricanes 2 – This was a particularly rocky start by the Habs who found themselves down by two early and were getting outshot and outchanced by a considerable margin.  However, Oliver Kapanen got one back a few minutes later to get Montreal on the board.  The top line chipped in with a pair in the second period while Ivan Demidov scored on a breakaway in the third to give the Canadiens some breathing room.  Jakub Dobes, meanwhile, made a career-high 41 saves in the victory.

Mar. 26: Canadiens 2, Blue Jackets 1 – This was a much more defensive game and Columbus did well to shut down Montreal’s top scoring threats.  This time, however, it was the supporting cast that stepped up.  Jayden Struble scored his first goal of the season (and first in 87 games going back to late 2024).  Then, after Damon Severson tied it up a few minutes later, Zach Bolduc was the hero, going high short-side on Jet Greaves for his first goal in 30 games – and this one was onside, even…barely.

Mar. 28: Canadiens 4, Predators 1 – After some games where the Habs were rather limited, this was the opposite.  The Canadiens carried the play throughout the game and used a dominant second period to score three goals and take complete control.  Jacob Fowler lost his shutout bid thanks to a weird bounce off a stanchion but aside from that, it was one of Montreal’s more complete games in recent memory.

Mar. 29: Canadiens 3, Hurricanes 1 – The start was a lot like Tuesday’s – Carolina was beyond dominant and led by one after one.  But, like the Tuesday game, the top line came to life in the second.  This time, they picked up two goals at even strength before Nick Suzuki added a power play marker in the dying seconds of the frame to really change the complexion of the game.  The Hurricanes poured it on in the third but once again, Dobes stole the show to get the win.

StatPack

Skaters:

Goalies:

Team Leaders:

Goals: Cole Caufield (46)
Assists: Nick Suzuki (65)
Points: Nick Suzuki (91)
+/-: Nick Suzuki (+32)
PIMS: Arber Xhekaj (108)
Shots: Cole Caufield (220)

News And Notes

– Josh Anderson left Saturday’s game due to illness.  With Kirby Dach injured and Alexandre Texier sustaining a lower-body injury earlier in the week, Montreal wound up playing Arber Xhekaj as a forward on Sunday.

– Nick Suzuki has set new career highs in both assists and points.

– Jakub Dobes now has 25 wins on the season, passing Carey Price’s total in his rookie year (24).  He’s now tied for the sixth-most wins by a rookie netminder in franchise history.

– Lane Hutson is now just the fourth defenceman in franchise history to record 70 points in a season.  He’s the first defenceman and third player in team history to record back-to-back 60-assist seasons.  Hutson also became the fastest defenceman in NHL history to notch 30 multi-assist games, needing just 157 to do so.

Last Game’s Lines:

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Kapanen – Demidov
Bolduc – Danault – Evans
Xhekaj – Veleno – Gallagher

Matheson – Dobson
Struble – Hutson
Guhle – Carrier

The Week Ahead

Tuesday at Tampa Bay – The Lightning are tied for first in the Atlantic Division with Buffalo and tied for first in the East (with Carolina also in the mix).  Even though they’re a safe bet to make the playoffs, there’s a lot on the line in this one, especially since it could be a first-round matchup.  Nikita Kucherov has missed the last two games due to illness but could be back for this one while Victor Hedman is away from the team on a leave of absence.  27-year-old rookie defenceman Charle-Edouard D’Astous has six points in his last four games, picking up the offensive slack.

Thursday at New York (R) – It has been an absolutely dreadful year for the Rangers who have already been eliminated from playoff contention and moved out Artemi Panarin at the trade deadline.  Mika Zibanejad is having a solid year while Alexis Lafreniere is on a hot streak, getting a bigger role with Panarin gone.  Several rookies are up right now, including the recent additions of Drew Fortescue and Adam Sykora, who has scored twice in his first three NHL games.

Saturday at New Jersey/Sunday vs New Jersey – The Devils have quietly won six of their last eight games although they haven’t been able to gain enough ground in the playoff race for that to matter.  For a team with a fair amount of firepower on paper, they sit 27th in goals scored and have just three players with at least 40 points on their roster.  Former Hab Johnathan Kovacevic is back in New Jersey’s lineup and, with the absence of Brett Pesce, finds himself in a top-four role.

Final Thought

The Habs had to dig deep into their depth chart on Sunday when they used Arber Xhekaj as a forward.  Full credit to Xhekaj for agreeing to that instead of staying as a defenceman and creating a situation where the forwards and defence pairings would have been shuffled throughout the game.  This was a much more effective way to get through that game.

But while many – myself included – have wanted to see them experiment with Xhekaj up front, it was a rough 5:11 of playing time.  I’m not going to be critical based on how he read the play or anything like that; this was his first game as a forward in years so he gets a pass there.  However, his lack of speed – already evident when he plays defence – really stood out in a bad way.  It’s one thing to tell him to be F1 and go hunt the puck and hit people.  That all makes sense.  But he has to be fast enough to get there on time.

When you look back at Xhekaj’s rookie season, he was lighter and more mobile.  Now, he’s built like a heavyweight enforcer with a lack of mobility that teams have been exploiting to the point where they have a hard time trusting him on defence.  Now, he looks a little too slow up front (granted, we’re talking a really small sample size).  This feels like a situation where losing some weight with an eye on getting a little quicker and more agile might be the better route for him to take as he looks to try to get his career back on track.  Whether that’s in Montreal or somewhere else remains to be seen but either way, this is something he probably needs to do.