(Chicago) They don’t say it too loudly, but the Canadiens players have started to take a furtive look at the rankings of the National Hockey League, in particular that of their own association.
Posted at 2:43 p.m.
Why not ? As they prepare to face the Blackhawks on Friday night in Chicago, Montreal players find themselves three points from a playoff spot in the East.
There are of course slight details that should not be ignored, such as the heavy congestion between the eight teams currently excluded from the playoffs in the East, and also a reminder that the Canadian will have to do better than its current average of ,500 to access the details, but hey.
It’s a new year, and there is hope.
“We are gaining confidence, finding our identity,” noted forward Jake Evans Friday morning in Chicago. It’s a good feeling, but you also have to make sure you don’t fall into arrogance… There’s still a long way to go before reaching the playoffs. Our recent victories against leading teams prove that we can compete with them. »
The Canadian has indeed just won three big matches in a row, two in Florida and the last one in the running, that of December 31 in Vegas. A victory Friday night would increase this series of victories to four, unheard of this season for the Canadian, nor last season, for that matter.
This is why the Canadian is gradually moving up the rankings.
“We look at the rankings all the time, and we see that we are moving up,” explained captain Nick Suzuki. If we continue to play like this, we will be able to put ourselves in a good position. We’ll see. We’re having success and I think the guys can see the bigger picture right now. »
The Canadian should appear in Chicago with the same training, although the state of health of David Savard remains to be verified; the veteran defender had to leave training the day before before the end, and we will have to wait until tonight’s warm-up before confirming anything in his case.
If he can’t play, Jayden Struble would be in the lineup, having been left out of each of the team’s last eight games.
Samuel Montembeault will be in front of the Montreal net against the Blackhawks.
