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The Montreal Canadiens allowed fivers on consecutive nights. After losing 5-1 Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators, the Habs followed it up with a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday at Scotiabank Arena. Backup Cayden Primeau was chased by the Leafs after allowing four goals in the first period.
First off, some fuzzy playoff math: The Habs entered the game needing one point in the standings to eliminate the Calgary Flames, while a win coupled with a Vancouver Canucks loss would’ve clinched a playoff spot outright. The Canucks didn’t hold their end of the bargain, winning 6-3 over the Edmonton Oilers. An infinitesimal chance still exists that the Habs miss the playoffs: if they can’t bank a win in their remaining three games and the Canucks run the table, or they can’t get at least an overtime loss and the Flames win all their games.
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At this pivotal juncture of the regular season, there are no small victories. That being said, It would be hard to understate the importance Friday night’s 2-1 win by the Montreal Canadiens over the Calgary Flames. For the standings and their sanity, the Habs simply could not let this 6 à 8 at the Bell Centre slip between their fingers. The regulation win reestablished their six point lead for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division, while retaining three games in hand.
The Canadiens have had a miserable time solving Flames netminder Jacob Markstrom this season. The big free agent signing entered the contest undefeated against the Habs in four games, stopping 104 of 107 shots in the process. It wasn’t much, but two goals from Tyler Toffoli, mired in his first mini-funk in bleu-blanc-rouge, was all Habs goalie Jake Allen needed. After losing in a valiant effort on Wednesday, Allen bested his counterpart Friday with a 28-save performance.