With Montreal averaging a mere one goal per game in the playoffs, a lot of attention has been given to their lack of capable scorers as the primary cause for their struggles. I think the root cause of their problems isn’t that but rather a lack of playmaking.

Same recipe, same disaster. The Habs couldn’t score with only one line generating offence because of an obsession with shutting down Matthews instead of trying to win. Carey Price stood on his head again but can’t do it by himself. The end result was the Habs losing 4-0 on Tuesday night and they now trail 3-1 in the series.

With the last change on Monday night, Dominique Ducharme created a defensive line and played them until the Habs were behind and running out of time to get back in the game. The Leafs defended well in the third and that was the story as the Habs coached themselves to a 2-1 series deficit, losing the game by that same score.

The Habs opened up their first-round series against Toronto this past week and while the second game was far from pretty, they still managed to pick up an important split on the road.

The Habs looked to come out of Toronto with both games to start their playoff series. However, despite an early goal, they weren’t able to generate much after that, ultimately falling 5-1 on Saturday night.

Thursday’s series opener was a typical playoff game where both teams battled in the corners and the physicality was absolutely ramped up. While the Leafs had more scoring chances, they were faced with beating the Habs star in Carey Price who was on top of his game. The result was a defensive battle that saw the Habs come out ahead 2-1 to take the ultra-important 1-0 series lead.

If the Habs are going to beat Toronto in their upcoming series, they’ll need their top players to contribute plus have a couple of other players step up. Who could those players be? Our writers make their picks for Montreal’s X-Factors.

With Laval finishing their season up on Monday, the Habs were able to make their end-of-season recalls to establish their ‘Black Aces’ for the playoffs.  They did just that on Tuesday, recalling nine players.

The playoffs are now well underway, with the weekend games starting off the 2021 postseason. The HabsWorld writers have now provided their thoughts and predictions on the next four series, including the all-Canadian matchups.

The Habs needed to pick up a point in their final two games against Edmonton in order to officially lock down a playoff spot. They couldn’t secure a win to give them a shot at catching Winnipeg for third but did enough to back into the final spot in the North.