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The Montreal Canadiens are on the cusp of making it to the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.
They have not played postseason hockey since losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, but with two more points, the Habs can waltz their way into the playoffs, and they could do it as soon as this Monday night when they face off against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks at their home ice at Bell Centre in Montreal.
At the moment, the Habs are sitting on the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference standings, as they have 88 points off of a 39-31-10 record. Only the Columbus Blue Jackets are capable of displacing the Canadiens in the wild-card picture, but so long as Montreal collects at least two points in its final two games of the regular season, they will be guaranteed a ticket to the playoffs. Columbus has 85 points with two games left on its schedule.
However, the Canadiens have not been in fine form of late, having lost both of their last two outings. After stitching together a six-game win streak, Montreal suffered a 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Friday before picking up a point in a 1-0 overtime defeat at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday to cap a two-game road trip.
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But a golden opportunity for the Canadiens to clinch a playoff spot comes this Monday night in front of their home crowd against one of the worst teams in the league today.
“It’s a huge opportunity,” Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said after the loss to Toronto (h/t NHL.com writer Mike Zeisberger). “And, you know, I love that we can control our own path to the playoffs, so I’m not really too worried about the other games. Whatever happens, happens.
“We can go out Monday in front of our fans and do what we want to do. That’s what you want.”
Should they lose to Chicago, the Canadiens will have one more shot at getting enough points to make the playoffs on Wednesday, still at Bell Centre, versus the postseason-bound Carolina Hurricanes.
