Entering the 2024-25 season, not many people thought the Montreal Canadiens would be in a playoff chase. With only a few weeks remaining, they clawed their way back and overtook the New York Rangers for the second wild-card spot after a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. Could this be the season they make noise and make the playoffs since the 2020-21 season?
The Canadiens make a serious push
Montreal has been on fire recently, going 8-2-1 in their last 11 games. Their previous three wins have come against the Senators, Florida Panthers, and the Vancouver Canucks, all playoff-bound teams. Regardless of how their season ends, they are making it hard not to root for them in their last-minute push.
The Canadiens are in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with a 33-27-7 record. This places them four points behind the Senators, who hold the first wild-card spot.
Can the Canadiens make the playoffs?
Why not? Every season there is one team that surprises and makes the playoffs. The Canadiens have been playing well and may grab a wild-card spot. That's the saying "Just get in," Montreal is in a tight division and would be a surprise if they got in, but they are also the hottest team in the league right now.
Goaltender Samuel Montembeault is 4-0-1 in his last five games and is playing like a No. 1 goaltender right now. Offensively, Juraj Slafkovsky is showing why he was the first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. He has three goals and three assists for six points in his last five games. If they are to make it, he will be counted on heavily to continue his hot play.
This is not a team led by one superstar or one elite goaltender. Montreal has 17 players with 10 or more points this season, showing they have better depth scoring than before. Every player on this roster has had their part in this winning streak, and the goaltending duo of Montembeault and Jakub Dobes have been solid since the start of 2025.
The Canadiens and the playoffs go hand in hand. They have struggled in past years to make it but they are better with them in it. Montreal is an underdog and they knew that. In the history of the playoffs, the underdog is sometimes the hardest to eliminate. They do have a fighting chance to make something happen.
They are not the best team in the league but they are riding a hot streak at the right time. Montreal is a solid team from top to bottom and they do not need elite talent to go far. They need to play like a team and that will get them farther than any star would.